Brandeis Magazine

Stuart Appelbaum and Michihito Osawa were married over Labor Day weekend, with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy officiating. It is the first marriage for each groom. Later in September, Stuart addressed 11,000 people at the New Hampshire Democratic State Convention. He talked about how his marriage seemed inconceivable for most of his life and how making unimaginable changes can be possible. Mark Gershenson’s daughter, Gwynne, married David Stein of Merrick, New York, in September in Marina del Rey, California. Albert Spevak and Debra (Kay) Kushins were among those attending. Bob Jaffe played a waiter serving Brad Pitt and Jimmy Fallon in a “Tonight Show” skit, which has millions of views on YouTube. Bob lives and works in New York. Dan Klein and wife Shelley celebrated granddaughter Raea’s first birthday with daughter Lauren, a high-school social worker, and her wife, Gabby, a personal financial adviser at Fidelity. Their other daughter, Ariel, lives with husband Eric in Seattle; she is a beer brewer at two breweries, and he works as an aeronautical engineer. Caroline Leavitt’s latest novel, “With or Without You,” will be published in August, and she invites everyone to come see her on the book tour. Film rights have been obtained for her novel “Cruel Beautiful World,” which is about a family’s upheaval in the early 1970s (one family member attends Brandeis). Son Max has appeared as an extra in “The Deuce” and “The Plot Against America.” Husband Jeff works for the website Best Classic Bands. Marden David Paru, MA’74, observed her 10th anniversary as dean of the Sarasota Liberal Yeshiva, a Jewish adult-education institute. Betsy Sarason Pfau and husband Dan ’73 enjoyed dinner with Francine Beth Sohn; Ilene Miller, P’13; and Don Friedman, P’13, over the summer. Tom Phillips recently completed the score for an American Experience film about agronomist Norman Borlaug. Sharon Hammer Rubin and her husband traveled to California to witness their granddaughter’s naming. They also took a two-week trip to Switzerland to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. Sharon confirms you can never have too much Swiss chocolate or cheese fondue, and views of the Matterhorn never get old. Sheldon “Shelly” Stein and wife Barbara ’73 are expecting their ninth grandchild, a boy. Shelly is the president of Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, and CEO of Glazer’s Beer and Beverages. He recently received the Samuel Bronfman Memorial Award from the UJA-Federation of New York, and has joined the boards of Studio Movie Grill, Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits, the BRN Group and Spoleto Festival USA. He is also a member of the boards of Tailored Brands, Amegy Bank and the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America.