P.A. 1964
Tom Seligson
15 Bradley Street
Westport, Ct. 06880
August, 2001

With so much news now being shared via the listserve, devoted readers of our class cyber club may find some of these notes to seem like ancient history. Such are the drawbacks of contributing a quarterly column, in this techno world. Nevertheless, a lot of our classmates remain selectively unwired, and much of this may be new to them. Plus I’ve included some previously unreported gossip. Listservers know by now that class golf tournaments have replaced Riley Room or Benner House gatherings. One of the more memorable outings was recently held in Aspen, courtesy of Rob Auld. Rob and his wife, Carol hosted Tory Peterson and Janet, Peter Pfeifle and wife Lisa, and Bill Semple. By all accounts, Rob’s home is magnificent, he and Carol are wonderful cooks, and Tory’s 350 yard drives blew everyone away. Tory shared the secret to his dazzling game to yours truly: three quick lessons taken just before the weekend. Another tidbit under the "you heard it here first" category: Rob, who’s been living and working in Japan for Fidelity, is back in the states now, and hopes to retire to Aspen within a year. Look for some of us skiers and hikers to avail ourselves of the Aulds’ now legendary hospitality.

Other news not yet reported on the listserve: After more than 10 years as a broker with Hilliard Lyons, Tory has left to join a new firm, LPL Financial Services. The firm is one of the largest independent broker dealers in the country, and Tory is thrilled by his new arrangement. Dick Howe also has an exciting new job, one close to all our hearts. He is now Director of Regional Campaigns for PA, working on Andover’s major $208.5 million campaign. Dick reports that he was offered the position just a week after his son Weston was accepted to the Class of ’05. "If his sister Rebecca is equally successful a year from now," Dick says, "we expect to follow Doug Cowan and Posie’s example, and move to Andover so our kids can have the best of both worlds as day students." It says a lot about our curiosity and courage, that other classmates are taking the plunge into equally exciting new endeavors. Chris Roper, who’s spent most of his career teaching high school, has now left the classroom to embark on a series of sailing excursions, including, perhaps, a journey around the world. He may run into Steve Kroll, for whom the sea is also beckoning. After 11 years at the Treasury, Steve has left to take time off, and then work in the private sector. "I’m going to do some writing (about issues related to money laundering, bank secrecy, and cyber crime)," Steve says, "and maybe some consulting. But all I know now is that I’m off to Maine, and I hope to take sailing lessons, thanks to the encouragement of our Commodore Tim Booth.

Another career change I’m especially proud of is that of my former roommate, Jim Lockhart. Jim has been selected by the White House to become Deputy Commissioner of the Social Security Administration. If his nomination is confirmed, and I have no doubts it will be, Juice will be the Chief Operating Officer of this extraordinarily important and formidable (65,000 employees) agency. Jim has most recently been the CFO of NetRisk, a firm providing consulting and software for risk management decision making in the financial, banking, and insurance industries. Our buddy George obviously remembers the good work Jim did for his father, during whose administration Jim served as Executive Director of the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation. Congratulations, Juice.

For those non listservers who haven’t heard the news, I regret to report that John Volk died on August 10^th of leukemia. John had developed lymphoma two years ago. But his aggressive treatment kept the cancer in remission. It returned suddenly this July. After Andover, John went to Yale, then worked as a carpenter for a number of years before attending Boston Law School. John’s concerns for the poor led him to organize an international conference on hunger and the law. He later served as an attorney for the states of Connecticut and Massachusetts. John was also a promising writer. He had recently won an award for a book he was writing about his battle with cancer. Called Dear Boys and Girls, the book is a series of letter to children, in which John deals frankly with issues of mortality, while sharing the simply joys of romping on the beach with his two yellow labs, as he underwent treatment. In the final weeks of his life, John was seeking a publisher for the book he hoped could help children with cancer face their own battles. John lived in Hull, Massachusetts. He leaves his wife Mary, and his two stepsons Michael and Daniel Sullivan. "You couldn’t have asked for a better stepfather," Michael told me. "He was the real deal." I’m not alone in recalling John as one of the sweetest, most down to earth guys in our class. He never complained, even when he was sick, and I don’t ever remember him saying a critical word about anyone else. We will miss him.