By Gregory A. Weiss
Proud father Allen Sandler MD writes from Washington, D.C., “Our son Zak was accepted early action to the Yale Class of 2008. Etta and I are very proud of Zak, as is his brother Aaron (Yale ’93).” John Lindburg, also from D.C., recently became the general counsel of Radio Free Europe/RadioLiberty. The corporate offices are in D.C., and the main broadcasting center is in Prague. RFE/RL broadcasts news and information in 27 languages to 18 countries.
Adam Donovan retired from SBC/Pacific Bell in September after 31 years. “Now,” writes Adam, “I can do work that actually needs doing. My main interest is the dilemma of adolescent boys and how hard it is for them to move out of youth and toward manhood. My job, as far as I can see it, is to be the best elder I can become. Good health and a pretty good retirement package should help me in that direction.”
This is probably “old news” by the time you are reading it, but we must mention the HBO series Deadwood created and written by David Milch, whose prior credits include N.Y.P.D. Blue and Hill Street Blues. The series has been receiving some excellent press, including a review in the March 19 issue of the New York Times, according to which, “Deadwood never strays far from the classic form, but its riffs of hard-boiled realism are bold. It is a western as uncompromisingly dark, squalid, and violent as the HBO series Oz. . . . Once the story takes hold, it is hard to turn away. Like laudanum, a good western can be habit-forming.”
Channel surfing during a time-out in a recent Knicks game, your corresponding secretary clicked onto Paula Zahn on CNN interviewing none other than our own Tom Wilner. He was great! Tom is representing the 16 Kuwaitis who have been held incommunicado in Guantanamo Bay for more than two years, and the case was argued that day in front of the Supreme Court. Today’s issue of the Wall Street Journal (May 13) has an op-ed piece by Tom in which he makes clear that all his clients are seeking is that a lawful process be applied to determine if they are or are not enemy combatants. By the time this issue of the magazine is published, a decision may have been rendered.
A heads-up for a class event on Thursday, September 23: Yale ’66 at Lincoln Center. We have obtained 80 prime orchestra seats to the newest Nathan Lane production, The Frogs, with music by Stephen Sondheim and direction and choreography by Susan Stroman. The play is an adaptation of a 450 B.C. comedy written by Aristophanes. Believe it or not, the current adaptation premiered in 1974 at the Payne Whitney swimming pool. (You knew there was a Yale connection somewhere!) With Lane in the lead role this is sure to be the hottest ticket in town. Don’t miss it! Contact Cary Koplin (ckoplin@nb.com) for tickets.
Speaking of Cary, he is tickled pink to have become a first-time grandfather on May 8. Granddaughter Daniela Rachel Koplin weighed in at 6 pounds, 2 ounces, and is doing just fine.
Another upcoming class event to put on your calendars is the annual winter ski classic, this year to be hosted by Tim and Cindy Wollaeger and Jesse and Pat Lovejoy in Beaver Creek, Colorado, February 2 through February 6, 2005. They have already done an amazing amount of planning, and it should be another great success. Contact Tim (twollaeger@sanderling.com) or Jesse (jrlovejoy@ripplewood.com) for more information.