Brandeis Magazine

Paul Bloom reports, “Mil and I are happy and healthy, still jogging three times a week, and have four stunning grandchildren.” Victoria Hilkevitch has reclaimed her family name (Hilkevitch). “I am very proud to display my ethnic origins in this age of hyper-nationalism,” she writes. Now fully retired, she focuses on playing the violin and is a member of several ensembles: the Bloomington (Indiana) Symphony Orchestra; Reimagining Opera for Kids; and Shir Simcha, a four-piece band that plays at Reform services. Last summer, as part of a National Science Foundation grant, Richard Lerman, MA’70, took 10 students to the Kilpisjärvi (Finland) Biological Station for a course called BioArts: Sonoran and Arctic Environments. Richard makes video/sound art that focuses on climate change. His work is featured on Sonic Journeys: A Sound Art Channel, which can be viewed on Roku and Apple TV. Michael and Phyllis Moscovich, P’99, have been traveling extensively in Canada, Asia, Israel and Europe. The highlight was a visit to Birobidzhan, the Jewish Autonomous Oblast in Russia. They spend their winters in Palm Springs, California, and have enjoyed visits with Paul Bloom, and Millie and Larry Grylack. Bert Foer and Ron Weinger, P’00, report with sadness that Bob Nelson died on Sept. 15 while attending a conference in Helsinki. He was a professor at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy and the author of 10 books. He was one of a group of Brandeis friends who have remained close since college. Memorial events were planned for April in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, where he and wife Jill had a second home. Jonathan Porath will take a “Russian Jewish Journey” tour to Moscow and St. Petersburg in June. He looks forward to seeing the Kremlin, Lenin’s Mausoleum, the Hermitage Museum, and Holocaust and memorial sites. Lois Galgay Reckitt was re-elected to the Maine House of Representatives for a second term, receiving 79 percent of the vote. She represents the ocean end of South Portland. “I’m looking forward to serving with Maine’s first female governor,” she writes. A book by Bill Schneider, H’08, “Standoff: How America Became Ungovernable,” was published by Simon & Schuster in May 2018. Bill writes for The Hill and appears on Hill.tv podcasts as well as on Al-Jazeera English television worldwide.