Class of 1962
Class Correspondent
- Ann Leder Sharon
- 13890 Ravenwood Drive
- Saratoga, CA 95070
- 1962notes@alumni.brandeis.edu
The excitement of our 50th Reunion is palpable! We’ve come a long way since we left Brandeis 50 years ago, and it is time to celebrate. Chaired by Fern Davis Cohen and Hersh Cohen, a planning committee of more than 20 classmates has been working tirelessly since the first conference call back in the fall to make this Reunion one you will not want to miss. Subcommittees are working on programming, outreach, class gift, yearbook and the memorial service. In addition to those already engaged, all of you are invited to join in the planning and preparations for what promises to be a remarkable Reunion. Please contact Fern and she will put you in touch with the individual chair of the committee(s) on which you wish to serve. Plan to attend the Reunion. I look forward to seeing you on campus in June. Together we can make this a truly memorable Brandeis experience!
Evelyn Greenbaum Mitchell has enjoyed serving as part of the 50th Reunion Committee. She writes, “Co-chairing the reunion yearbook committee with Esther Gerson Levine has allowed us to share what we have been doing all these years since graduating. We are excited about attending the Reunion.” Evelyn spends half the year in Sarasota, Fla., and the other half in Omaha, Neb. She would like to connect with anyone from our class who lives or winters on the West Coast of Florida. In 2006, after 25 years as a partner, Bill Singer became “of counsel” to his firm, Kirkland and Ellis, thinking he would slow down. Bill writes, “Each year I have said next year, and so I continue with a full-time workload.” He spends a great deal of time as president of the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute, located at West Virginia University. The institute, founded by Senator Jay Rockefeller in memory of his mother, who died of Alzheimer’s disease, is working on diagnostic tests and therapies for Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. Alan Rubin writes, “After Brandeis, I went to med school at NYU, where I met my wife, Enid, then off to Korea for a year and San Francisco for a year after that in the Army. Our daughter, Renee, was born in Korea and our son, Larry, was born in San Francisco. We decided we loved California and stayed. I did a fellowship in endocrinology (diabetes and thyroid disease mostly) at University of California, San Francisco, and practiced there for 37 years before I retired at age 70. In 1998 I began to write medical books for the For Dummies series. These have been very successful, selling more than 2 million copies, especially “Diabetes for Dummies” and six other titles. I have written 14 of these books and they have been translated into 16 languages, including Russian and Polish, the languages spoken by my ancestors who came to America. I am looking forward to seeing my friends and other classmates at our 50th Reunion.” The Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta has honored Esther Gerson Levine every year for the past seven years with the Esther G. Levine Community Read during its annual book festival. This year, Senator Joe Lieberman was the guest speaker. He talked about his book “The Gift of Rest” to an enthusiastic crowd of 600 people. Esther looks forward to seeing everyone at the 50th Reunion. Susan Deutsch writes, “Still working. Still saving the world. Lots of kids and grandkids, almost ready for Brandeis. Living in Maine and New York. Loving the Down East environment and community. On the board of the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, Maine. Looking forward to sharing at our Reunion in June.” Betty Dayron checks in to report that she continues to enjoy retirement in Chicago. She writes, “It’s hard to believe it has been almost four years. Recent travels included Egypt and Cuba, as well as my annual Caribbean Blues Cruise every January. I still think of myself as a social worker, even though I don’t have to get up early in the morning anymore. See you at the Reunion.” Fern Davis Cohen and Hersh Cohen curated and prepared the catalog for an exhibition at the Grolier Club in New York City, “Steel and Roses: American Prints in the Hersh Cohen Collection and Botanical Books in the Fern Cohen Collection,” which was on view from Sept. 7–Nov. 8, 2011. They led a tour for members and one for the International Fine Print Dealers Association. Roommates and lifelong friends Steve Riekes and Arthur Firester are planning to attend the 50th Reunion along with their wives. Steve writes, “In the meantime, I am still practicing law at Marks Clare & Richards in Omaha, Neb., and Arthur and Lynn are probably in some warm spot and deep-sea diving.” Sid Boorstein checks in to let us know that he sold most of his McDonald’s restaurants in 2002 and gave some to his oldest daughter, Robin ’89 (who has two boys ages 15 and 13). Sid opened a new hamburger concept restaurant in Watertown, Mass., Wild Willies, which is doing very well. Sid also does some restaurant consulting for various startups and existing businesses and is involved in several philanthropies, including the West End House Boys and Girls Club and the Children’s Trust Fund of Massachusetts. His youngest daughter, Michelle, is a religion reporter at The Washington Post. She and her husband, who serves as managing editor overseeing the business bureaus for the Associated Press in New York, Washington, D.C., and Europe, have a 3-year-old son. Sid’s wife, Beverly ’61, retired from the bench in 2007. After taking a year off, she opened an office in Newton doing mediation, arbitration, hearings, etc. Cornelia Turk Philipson is looking forward to our 50th Reunion. She writes, “I can’t wait to see everyone — in person! Dear classmates and Brandeis friends have played a very close, personal part in my life since that first day on campus. Weddings and other celebrations, vacations together, and visits over the years have continued the unbreakable ties. We ‘knew’ everyone on campus, and grew up/came of age together. I can’t wait to catch up again. Reunions are a time to rejoice, renew and ‘regain our youth’ through reminiscences. Let’s celebrate each other and our journeys!”
Submit a Class NoteEvelyn Greenbaum Mitchell has enjoyed serving as part of the 50th Reunion Committee. She writes, “Co-chairing the reunion yearbook committee with Esther Gerson Levine has allowed us to share what we have been doing all these years since graduating. We are excited about attending the Reunion.” Evelyn spends half the year in Sarasota, Fla., and the other half in Omaha, Neb. She would like to connect with anyone from our class who lives or winters on the West Coast of Florida. In 2006, after 25 years as a partner, Bill Singer became “of counsel” to his firm, Kirkland and Ellis, thinking he would slow down. Bill writes, “Each year I have said next year, and so I continue with a full-time workload.” He spends a great deal of time as president of the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute, located at West Virginia University. The institute, founded by Senator Jay Rockefeller in memory of his mother, who died of Alzheimer’s disease, is working on diagnostic tests and therapies for Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. Alan Rubin writes, “After Brandeis, I went to med school at NYU, where I met my wife, Enid, then off to Korea for a year and San Francisco for a year after that in the Army. Our daughter, Renee, was born in Korea and our son, Larry, was born in San Francisco. We decided we loved California and stayed. I did a fellowship in endocrinology (diabetes and thyroid disease mostly) at University of California, San Francisco, and practiced there for 37 years before I retired at age 70. In 1998 I began to write medical books for the For Dummies series. These have been very successful, selling more than 2 million copies, especially “Diabetes for Dummies” and six other titles. I have written 14 of these books and they have been translated into 16 languages, including Russian and Polish, the languages spoken by my ancestors who came to America. I am looking forward to seeing my friends and other classmates at our 50th Reunion.” The Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta has honored Esther Gerson Levine every year for the past seven years with the Esther G. Levine Community Read during its annual book festival. This year, Senator Joe Lieberman was the guest speaker. He talked about his book “The Gift of Rest” to an enthusiastic crowd of 600 people. Esther looks forward to seeing everyone at the 50th Reunion. Susan Deutsch writes, “Still working. Still saving the world. Lots of kids and grandkids, almost ready for Brandeis. Living in Maine and New York. Loving the Down East environment and community. On the board of the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, Maine. Looking forward to sharing at our Reunion in June.” Betty Dayron checks in to report that she continues to enjoy retirement in Chicago. She writes, “It’s hard to believe it has been almost four years. Recent travels included Egypt and Cuba, as well as my annual Caribbean Blues Cruise every January. I still think of myself as a social worker, even though I don’t have to get up early in the morning anymore. See you at the Reunion.” Fern Davis Cohen and Hersh Cohen curated and prepared the catalog for an exhibition at the Grolier Club in New York City, “Steel and Roses: American Prints in the Hersh Cohen Collection and Botanical Books in the Fern Cohen Collection,” which was on view from Sept. 7–Nov. 8, 2011. They led a tour for members and one for the International Fine Print Dealers Association. Roommates and lifelong friends Steve Riekes and Arthur Firester are planning to attend the 50th Reunion along with their wives. Steve writes, “In the meantime, I am still practicing law at Marks Clare & Richards in Omaha, Neb., and Arthur and Lynn are probably in some warm spot and deep-sea diving.” Sid Boorstein checks in to let us know that he sold most of his McDonald’s restaurants in 2002 and gave some to his oldest daughter, Robin ’89 (who has two boys ages 15 and 13). Sid opened a new hamburger concept restaurant in Watertown, Mass., Wild Willies, which is doing very well. Sid also does some restaurant consulting for various startups and existing businesses and is involved in several philanthropies, including the West End House Boys and Girls Club and the Children’s Trust Fund of Massachusetts. His youngest daughter, Michelle, is a religion reporter at The Washington Post. She and her husband, who serves as managing editor overseeing the business bureaus for the Associated Press in New York, Washington, D.C., and Europe, have a 3-year-old son. Sid’s wife, Beverly ’61, retired from the bench in 2007. After taking a year off, she opened an office in Newton doing mediation, arbitration, hearings, etc. Cornelia Turk Philipson is looking forward to our 50th Reunion. She writes, “I can’t wait to see everyone — in person! Dear classmates and Brandeis friends have played a very close, personal part in my life since that first day on campus. Weddings and other celebrations, vacations together, and visits over the years have continued the unbreakable ties. We ‘knew’ everyone on campus, and grew up/came of age together. I can’t wait to catch up again. Reunions are a time to rejoice, renew and ‘regain our youth’ through reminiscences. Let’s celebrate each other and our journeys!”