Class Correspondent

Professor Richard Weisberg continues to work as part of the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, to which he was appointed by President Barack Obama, and is helping to renovate a Jewish cemetery outside Stavische, an old shtetl town in Ukraine. His book “In Praise of Intransigence” will be published early next year. On sabbatical from Cardozo Law School, he is teaching at the University of Chicago this spring. All three of his sons have married within the past four summers, and he and his wife, Cheryl (Zackian) ’68, have a grandson named Owen Fayvel Weisberg; Owen’s middle name is the Hebrew name of Richard’s father, who was born in Stavische in 1904. Robert Lerman established the American Institute for Innovative Apprenticeship (innovative­apprenticeship.org) to promote the expansion of apprenticeship training in the U.S. He hopes the institute will serve as an information clearinghouse on apprenticeship and a peer-to-peer learning organization while coordinating outreach efforts to industry groups. Robert is a professor of economics at American University and a fellow at the Urban Institute. On Aug. 29, 2013, his older daughter, Alona, married Gilli Stern in Jerusalem, where they plan to live happily ever after. Younger daughter Maya recently produced and recorded her first CD, and is receiving rave reviews. Arlene Hirschfelder and her colleague, Paulette Molin, founded the Hirschfelder-Molin Stereotypes Collection at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Sequoyah National Research Center. The collection consists of advertisements, sports memorabilia, toys, books, postcards, figurines, clothing and other objects that portray Native Americans in a derogatory and stereotypical manner. The collection represents a major resource for researchers and teachers studying racial intolerance in today’s culture. Dennis Smith is of counsel to the law firm Lum, Drasco & Positan in Roseland, N.J. He concentrates his law practice on business transactions and commercial litigation. He and his wife, Sandy Kotzen Smith, celebrated their 48th wedding anniversary in August 2013. Barbara Zoloth writes, “Along with being just a year from our 50th Reunion, most of us turned 70 last year, a number that makes no sense to me at all. I retired from Wells Fargo Bank after 28 years there and now spend most of my time organizing same-sex dances and dance competitions. My biggest challenge will be producing the dance sport competition at the 2014 Gay Games in Cleveland in August.” Patricia Striar Rohner is trying to get her first novel published. “TZippy, the Thief” is a 10,000-word novel about an 80-year-old Jewish shoplifter who is selfish, funny and gutsy, and who wants to change her life at the 11th hour. After 27 years as a bankruptcy judge, Geraldine Mund retired (sort of) in February 2011. She did not transfer her cases, so she is still working almost full time, but does have more flexibility. Over the past year, she visited Cuba and Israel, and went on a European river cruise. She writes, “My joy is singing in my temple choir, where I am a mediocre alto surrounded by lots of loving people who sing better than I do, and being part of truly beautiful and inspiring music.” Angela Davis is the subject of a new documentary, “Free Angela and All Political Prisoners.” The film takes a new look at the retired University of California, Santa Cruz, professor who joined the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitive List after she was charged in the 1970 killing of a judge and a prosecutor in California. Making up for lost time, Anne Bernstein and her husband finally became grandparents, with the birth of three grandchildren — two boys and a girl — over a span of 19 months, in reverse order of their fathers’ ages. Anne has a family psychology practice, serves as a mediator and recently became SAG-AFTRA eligible after adding film to the stage acting she’s been doing, on a feast-or-famine basis, since the turn of the century. Ellis Landau, P’91, is staying busy in retirement after a long career as a casino financial executive. He enjoys serving on boards, traveling and spending time with family and friends, and occasionally meets Brandeis alumni visiting Las Vegas. Since retiring from her position as director of admissions at Manhattan’s Calhoun School, where she worked for 25 years, Nancy Sherman is a consultant for people needing help with the independent school process in NYC. In addition, she serves as program manager for Very Young Composers, a partnership between the New York Philharmonic and the city’s public schools. She writes, “This latest job has been a wonderful combination for me of the two threads in my life — education and music. It is also part time, which allows me more time to enjoy NYC and more time to devote to music. I play in two community orchestras, one as a flutist and one as a cellist (yes, I started cello lessons in my 60s — crazy, eh?). Most important and closest to my heart, I get to spend time with my delightful granddaughter, Gabby, who is 3.” Leslie Frankel Simon and her husband, Murray, celebrated their 45th anniversary in April 2013. She writes, “How did that happen? Where did the years go? And how am I 70? But it’s wonderful to reach a peaceful point where we only have to please ourselves — nothing to prove and no one to impress. We are in Asheville, N.C., during the summers and the Naples area of southwest Florida during the winters.” David Wexler and his wife, Susan Holm, moved to Topeka, Kan., where he opened another Affordable Dentures practice.

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