By Gregory A. Weiss
We hate to do it, but let’s start with some sad news. After suffering a serious stroke Bill Hannay died peacefully on August 11 with his wife, Donna, and three children, Capron, Blaike and William, at his side. Following his years at Yale, Bill served a tour in Vietnam, attended Georgetown Law, clerked on the Supreme Court for Justice Tom C. Clark, worked in the Manhattan DA’s office for three years and then joined Chicago-based law firm Schiff Hardin LLP in 1979, where he would have celebrated his 41st year this fall. He specialized in antitrust law, working on cases nationwide, authoring numerous books on the topic and teaching as an adjunct professor at two law schools in Chicago. A performer at heart, he pursued his passion for theatre and music with family and friends alike, Among his proudest accomplishments in recent years was Naked Lunch: The Musical, the original musical he wrote and directed for our 50th Reunion, with music by Damon Baker. Damon has circulated a heartwarming photo montage of NLTM in memory of Bill that is a “must see” (https://youtu.be/1zLb0T8Z7yQ).
Sam Carmalt let us know of the passing on August 9 of Greg Jones, who after a ten-year battle finally succumbed to Multiple Myeloma.
Greg and his wife of 49 years, Barbara, moved to Stow, MA in 1972 where they resided since, with the exception of two years living and working in Iran. Following Yale graduation, Greg spent two years in the Peace Corps as a teacher in Nigeria. He was very active in the Stow community, serving in more capacities than we have space to list, including nine years as Selectman and positions of leadership in the First Parish Church of Stow and Acton for 40 years. Greg was also dedicated to keeping alive the experience of Peace Corps volunteers who had been stationed in Nigeria, serving over 10 years as President of Friends of Nigeria.
The above-mentioned Mr. Carmalt is living in Geneva where, as he puts it, “I am aging quietly (especially thanks to covid-19) and, I hope, gracefully. I continue to do research and otherwise work on issues of hydrocarbon economics, trying to understand what a transition out of fossil fuels might look like. Bottom line: it is a social and political, not a scientific, question.”
“My news of note,” says Doug Palmer, “is that I have finally gotten around to writing a memoir on my friendship with Bruce Lee, which is now published and hitting the bookstores.” The book is entitled Bruce Lee: Sifu, Friend and Big Brother. It tells of Bruce’s career beginnings and adventures with Doug in his early days in the US during the late ’50s and early ’60s before he became an international movie star.
Among the many casualties of the coronavirus is our annual Class eastern Long Island golf outing, now approaching something like its tenth year. As described by would-be organizers Kirk Ressler and Rich Look: “The golf part could have been arranged with some spread out tee times and no congregating. But the good fellowship at meals might have been risky. And the coup de grace turned out to be golf club’s rule of one guest at a time this season. So we wish you soaring drives and sinking putts elsewhere and eager anticipations for next year.”