Brandeis Magazine

Of the 74 Class of 1952 members on my list, only 49 (66 percent) have email. We miss hearing from those of you without email, so please write me at 900 SW 31st St. #339, Topeka, KS 66611. I did get greetings from Gene Glick and Bernie Saklad. Bernie’s grandson received rabbinic ordination, and Bernie was expecting to become a great-grandfather in October. How many other classmates are great-grandparents? Leonard Van Gaasbeek Jr. and Norma Swenson each sent an annual letter full of news of their travels and families. Paul Levenson, P’78, P’82, stays active with a law practice focused on health law. Inge Fleischman Fowlie took her grandson Oscar to Germany to celebrate his bar mitzvah. While there, she led two workshops at the University of Wiesbaden. Inge considers herself a “living artifact” because she lived in Nazi Germany from 1933 to April 1940 and then worked with famed psychologist Bruno Bettelheim for 10 years at the University of Chicago. Both Helene Dembitzer Lambert and Judy Marks Kass suffered the death of a husband. Helene stays busy with Learning in Retirement, and Judy recently moved to an apartment in Coolidge Corner in Brookline, Mass. Penny Peirez Abrams writes that she and Julie Koss have slowed down (who hasn’t?), but Julie still bowls weekly and Penny still plays mah-jongg twice weekly and swims. They are active in politics and attend the symphony and theater. They are in touch with Larry Nigrosh, P’96, and his wife, Millicent, and Marvin March, P’94, and occasionally hear from Carl Werner, and Sandy and Phylis Levins Acker. Joan Garfein Botwinick can no longer drive but still rides her bicycle. Alan Greenwald and his wife, Sandy ’55, visited Paul Goldstein and his wife, Diane Rafael Goldstein ’53, P’76, at their apartment in Peabody, Mass. Caroline Shaffer Westerhof teaches online, develops syllabuses, mentors students for several universities and is editing a book for McGraw-Hill. She serves on several boards, including the advisory board for Brandeis’ graduate program in information technology management. She is a conference reviewer for the Academy of International Business annual meeting and a lector at her house of worship. Naomi Isler ’56 and I went on a Road Scholar trip to Chicago and want to travel to St. Louis and Europe next year. I hope those who signed up for it have enjoyed reading the Merrill Peterson manuscript and have passed it along to others on the list. Finally, the inevitable sad news: Annette Hard Lavine died on Dec. 17, 2013. She and her husband had been married for 56 years and had two children. Annette had an interest in the golden age of Egypt. She spent 20 years reading, traveling, researching and writing a historical novel, “A Poison in the Blood,” featuring the usual suspects — Akhenaten; Nefertiti; and her protagonist, Yuyu. Sadly, Annette did not live long enough to finish the book. Don’t delay: Tackle that bucket list today.