Brandeis Magazine

Dvora Lange Callahan is back at work with Morgan Stanley as a financial adviser after a “tough stretch.” Her troubles began when she fell off a bicycle and shattered her pelvis while on vacation in the Czech Republic. After a week in a local hospital, she was flown to Manhattan for the first of four surgeries, the last one a hip replacement in September. She writes, “My children have been amazing throughout. Noah is now a sophomore at Palm Beach (Fla.) State College, and Nathan just finished applying to college for next year. Take a step back to appreciate what you normally take for granted. I do that every day.” Lily Diaz-Kommonen reports that she is “divorced (not unhappy).” The mother of two children, she is a full professor in new media and visualization at Aalto University, in Espoo, Finland. Michael Goldman co-authored the first textbook of his writing career, “Filmmaking in Action,” an overview of the filmmaking process for first-year film students. It is the seventh book Michael has authored or co-authored. His 2013 coffee-table book, “John Wayne: The Genuine Article,” tied for first place in the biography category in the prestigious Will Rogers Medallion Award competition for excellence in literature focused on the American West. Thanksgiving 2014 represented the first-year anniversary of Michael’s decision to stop eating cookies, candy, ice cream, cake and all the rest. As he entered the second year of what he calls his “sugar-free sobriety,” Michael was 43 pounds lighter and in hot pursuit of the removal of 20 more. Wendy (Cohen) Hoffman completed a multiyear rule-making project on cooling water intake structures at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where she is an economist in the Office of Water. Last summer, her husband, Sid, and his business partner sold their 28-year-old captioning software company, and Sid is happily retired. Daughter Sarah is a high-school junior studying violin at the Interlochen Arts Academy, in Michigan. Son Danny is a freshman at the University of Maryland, College Park.