(Items are  listed newest to oldest.)

10/16/08 Event: Princeton in Africa is honoring Ambassador Frank G. Wisner, Vice Chairman of External Affairs, American International Group, at the Racquet and Tennis Club, NYC. Frank will receive the Princeton in Africa Medal.

"A South African photographic safari brought Marlene and me to Singita, an outstanding game preserve in South Africa's Krueger National Park. There, in the gift shop, I ran into Ted Newlin, whom I hadn't seen for almost 50 years. He and his wife Carole were traveling with Jim Blair and his wife. I later saw Jim on the plane and it was fun catching up after this chance encounter so far away from Princeton, NJ. Jim's wife took pictures of the three of us when we arrived by plane at Johannesburg." from Jim Zirin to the Class Secretary, 10/7/08.  "Hugh and Donna Scott were also trekking thru Africa at about the same time, but alas, we never overlapped", added Blair.

9/18/08 - To the Class Secretary: "This year my son and I moved racing up a notch to Formula Continentals. The colors and number on my car say a lot (photo attached). Still tuning our cars, but he was third at Road America June Sprints (run annually since 1955) and I was fifth. Sunday I won the FC race at Road America where SCCA Runoff Championships will be the next three years. Still working full-time which interferes with my racing addiction, but no other maladies yet. Definitely running slower, but the car doesn¹t know how  old I am." John Greist  [Ed. note: check out the number above the left rear tire!]

Joe Prather, our class reunions co-chair, has been elected Executive Officer of the African Professional Hunters Association.  Its members are all over the world, with the majority living in Africa.  The Association's president is Valéry Giscard D’Estaing, the former president of France.

The primary objectives of the APHA, which was founded in 1993, are: To ensure the continuation of Safari hunting in Africa; To ensure that Safari Hunting is undertaken only in an ethical manner; To collaborate with and assist all Government authorities and realistic NGO’s concerned with all aspects of the conservation of big game and its environment; To ensure that African game continues to be conserved for the ultimate benefit of the local people who live surrounded by it. Such benefits are best derived from Safari Hunting, the activity that is in the forefront of wildlife conservation. The Association believes that the indigenous people benefiting from their resource of big game will ensure its conservation and that of its environment.

Joe hired your faithful class webmaster, Len Berton, to take on the web duties for www.africanpha.org.  Joe recently created African PHA Foundation, Inc. for those who may wish to make tax-deductible donations to this cause.  Joe and Len are now developing the website for the Foundation.

Class secretary-for-life George Brakeley has been appointed to a one-year term as member-at-large of the Alumni Council Executive Committee. The Alumni Council is the governing body of the Alumni Association, and its Executive Committee is "where the action is." When he was on it earlier he chaired the then-Committee on Athletics for a year and then treasurer for a year, charged with collecting from the classes to support its work. This time around George has no specific portfolio. "They just want my general wisdom", says George.

John Torell has sadly reported that Mitch Lamotte died in his sleep on Thursday, August 7, 2008.

Sorry to report that Earl Shapiro died in Chicago on May 26, 2008 following a brief illness.  He founded Prairie Packaging, a plastics dinnerware company in 1986.  Besides his generous contributions to Princeton, Earl also chaired and donated to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago, and to the University of Chicago's Laboratory Schools.

It appears class president John Graham has single-handedly wiped out an entire species!  But on July 8, 2008 he wrote:

"The Louisiana coastal estuarine areas are the most prolific fish nursery in the US. Consequently we have more salt water game fish than anywhere else and hence, our limits are the highest. For example, the limit on sea trout (the fish in the picture) is 1 in Florida, 10 in Texas and 25!! in Louisiana. We do catch lots of fish, but the scientists say the resource is actually increasing.

Probably more about sea trout than you wanted to know."

Princeton Day School honored five alumni athletes during their May 2008 Alumni Weekend Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony. One of them was our own Ken Scasserra.  Click here for pictures and details.

On March 24, 2008 Bob Fuller wrote to the class secretary: "Visited briefly with the permanent President of the Princeton Club of Disney World. He extends a furry paw of welcome to all '61ers who might be visiting the Magic Kingdom, especially those with grandchildren in tow. A merry locomotive cheer to you, my friends and classmates!"

Ron George, Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, rules in a landmark same-sex marriage case.

Eight classmate couples gathered for a mini-reunion weekend in May, 2008 at Shelby McKenzie's farm in northern Louisianna.  Class pres. John Graham sent photos.

Thanks to Ken Scasserra for letting us know that Ken McIndoe is showing his work at the Artful Deposit gallery in Bordentown, NJ, May 3 - June 3, 2008.  Click here for more info and here to see samples of his work plus his bio. 

Class Secretary George Brakeley is always writing about our doings -- now it's time to turn the tables and report about him! While he is not retiring from his non-profit fundraising firm at the moment, he has closed his office in New Canaan, CT and is now working out of his home office. In effect BrakeleyBriscoe had been maintaining two headquarters operations for some years since their merger, and it makes sense to consolidate operations into one hq. For us, his email, mailing address, and home phone remain the same. On another front, you probably read in PAW that, in his capacity as a member of the Alumni Council's Class Affairs Committee, George graciously stepped into the void created by the passing of the '28, '31, and '32 secretaries. By writing a letter to the PAW editor plus appeals in the respective Class Notes columns, he has already filled two of these slots with volunteer kin of these classes. One of them is our own Bob Bole, whose father was in '28.

From Jim Wickenden: "On Wednesday night [April 2, 2008], Martha and I had dinner with John Clark and his wife Mayla. They were in the New York metropolitan area visiting their daughter Christine, her husband Vincent, and their new child, James Vincent. After saying the requisite things about how cute the baby is, John and Mayla came to Princeton to catch up on a host of issues. The most important of these is that John was recently selected to join the International Association of Trial Lawyers. Evidently this is a very prestigious group in that there are only 500 who belong. This year, John was one of 20 selected and was the only lawyer from California to be given this honor."

Gil Omenn now has four grandchildren under 33 months of age, all in Seattle, with two pairs of cousins all attending the same day care. Younger son David is entering his fourth year with Teach for America in Houston + Chicago. Gil is still at the University of Michigan, directing a new Center for Computational Medicine and Biology.

Al Oestreich sent news that Lee Carter, "who has been a top notch Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the CIncinnati Children's Hospital", has been honored by the establishment of the Lee Ault Carter Chair of Pediatric Ethics at a special dinner in his honor on March 27, 2008.  Click here for the details.

Cookie Krongard. a member of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, is trying out for a NJ pro lacrosse team.  He becomes the oldest player in league history to try out for a team.  Since they already have two experienced goalies, Cookie plans to give it his best shot (or stops would be more accurate.)  For all the details, click here.

Mike Horn still carries a full load at his law firm, McCarter & English, which is headquartered in Newark.  In addition, he has recently been elected vice chair of the board of the Federal Home Loan bank of NY (a $100 billion bank).  His twin sons are now in a private school. Click here for full story.

It is our sad duty to announce that our classmate, Matthew Kirby Gale, was lost at sea during a sailboat race on March 15, 2008. Click here to read the detailed articles from the San Francisco Chronicle and the Marin County Independent Journal.  A Memorial Service was held Sunday, March 30.

Cookie Krongard was featured in a 2/9/08 Wall St. Journal article about his clash with Rep. Henry Waxman.

Class secretary George Brakeley has received the list of this year's '61 scholarship winners along with  letters of appreciation from four six of our scholarship recipients..

The class has received word that Dr. William Wu died in Shanghai on December 18, 2007.  He did not have a wife or children.  Bill's sister Lillian informs us that the memorial service will be held on February 10, 2008, at the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco. Senator Diane Feinstein has graciously agreed to attend.

Bill Rudell received an award for 37 years of meritorious service to the African nation of Botswana.  Click here for details plus photos.

Not everyone takes it easy in retirement!  Click here to see Bob Chapman's rather large new "toy" and how he has been using it.

Ben Turnbull has returned from Afghanistan, and sent some pictures and details in December, 2007.

Stu Patrick's proud wife Kate wrote to the class secretary: "Thought you may be interested to know that Stuart Patrick achieved a landslide victory on his first step into the political arena. We are thrilled at the results! In addition to his full time responsibilities as president and CEO of Baird, Patrick & Co., he will greet the coming of 2008 as councilman for the borough of Glen Ridge, NJ.  He's quite the busy guy now. Along with all he takes on in his daily routine, we are blessed with his 7 grandchildren, my nephew, and our 2 great nephews and 1 great niece. Our "child" is a 15 year old blue and gold macaw named Max. Life is good and we are blessed!"  

Bill O'Connor's granddaughter Kaitlin Donovan's OT goal wins it for Field Hockey at Harvard, 1-0 on 10/20/07!  Bill writes "we are very excited, thrilled grandparents!"  This was a very big game for them. Check out this site for more details.  Then she was named Princeton's athlete of the week. And to complete the honors, Kaitlan was named field hockey's Ivy League player of the week!  WOW!!!   Plus she was named Princeton athlete of the week.  More wow! For anyone attending our 47th reunion, she will be co-chair of 1963's 45th, our probable host for our satellite. Kaitlin's mom is Ken Scasserra's god-daughter.

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Webmaster: Len Berton '61