The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 183

Reunions, Essays, Photos, Videos, Passings and Even a Basset Hound

Welcome to the Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 183,

Class of 1965 60th-Year Reunion Plans

Class of 1974 50th-Year Reunion - Review

Laura Herbst Writes - “Hello Arthur! I'm so glad that I made the trip to Long Island for the Class of 1974 50th-Year Reunion. It was a wonderful time, and I'm still smiling about it all.  The terrific slide show presentation showed each one of our Yearbook photographs next to a current photo.”

Class of 1975 50th-Year Reunion Plans

The Class of 1975 is planning a 50th-year reunion for the late summer or fall of 2025.  Contact Robert Vincze at vinczelaw@att.net, cell phone: 303-204-8207, if you are interested in serving on the reunion committee or have a great idea to share.”

What is Going on Here?

ALBANY TAKEOVER OF LONG ISLAND SCHOOLS???

Restaurant Review

A 1968 graduate says, “Hunter Restaurant in East Norwich, NY has great food and atmosphere. The son of Wheatley graduates Scott Wolowitz-now-Wells (1977) and Kathy Milana (1982) operates it.”

Appreciating Wheatley…..and the entire East Williston Union Free School District

Jeffrey Orling (1965) Writes - “ I appreciate Wheatley, the staff, the students and the education that I received.

You don't know what you’ve got ‘til it's gone, and that rings true for our days at Wheatley.  Of course, time colors memory... some things stand out... and others fade so that the memory is not true...but it works for me.   And, I love to read any and all memories from our time at Wheatley. The school motto, veritatem quaerite, Latin, was great: Seek the truth.  Words to live by.”

Faculty

Peter David Witt - Deceased

Hillsborough, North Carolina - Peter David Witt passed away on June 25th, 2024 in Hillsborough, North Carolina. He was preceded in death by his wife Joan and survived by daughter Andrea Krivacka, her husband Patrick Krivacka, and grandson Ivan Krivacka of Hillsborough, NC; daughter Laura Witt and her husband Rick Green of Bellingham, Washington; brother Stephen Witt of Fort Wayne, Indiana; sister Karen Rich of Entiat, Washington, and several nieces and nephews.

Peter was born in Massachusetts; he grew up there and in Buffalo, New York. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy, and then Yale University. Peter completed his master's and PhD at Harvard University in Education in 1962. He was affiliated with Brandeis University as the Director of Education Program for 32 years.

Peter traveled extensively from a young age, and during his marriage to Joan. He enjoyed sports and for decades, was a season ticket holder at Fenway Park. Peter loved music and was an accomplished pianist. As a French horn player, he was a member of Brassworks Quintet, which played throughout the Boston area for over 20 years.

After Peter and Joan relocated to Chapel Hill, NC, Peter continued to support the arts as a docent with the Ackland Art Museum. He also volunteered as a reading tutor with Chapel Hill schools. Peter was long active with the Unitarian Universalists, both in Newton, Mass. and Chapel Hill, NC. He was a dear friend to many.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the ACLU or Doctors Without Borders, organizations Peter long supported.

Elvira “Vivi” Cilmi Kunz Writes - “Hi Art, I  find it odd that the obituary does not mention his  teaching at Wheatley.  I had him for 9th Grade  English and then he went into the army for two years. I communicated with him while he was at Fort Dix for months.  When he returned to Wheatley, he taught 12th Grade English, and I enjoyed being in his class once again.  When I was in college at St. John’s, I babysat for Peter and Joan’s little girls. We kept in touch over the years, appreciating the time and friendship we shared. He was one of my favorite teachers and friends, and I will miss him.”

Art Engoron (1967) Writes - Peter Witt was another example of the significant Harvard-to-Wheatley pipeline.

Graduates

1962 - SoHo Restaurant

Clockwise from Near Left - NH, Ruth Rennert (1962), AS, Harriet Feinglass (1962), Art Engoron (1967), NW

1963 - Paul Krauss - Deceased

Paul Krauss passed away November 3, 2024, in hospice care .  After completing his studies and research fellowship at the University of Buffalo, Paul moved to Boston, and then Maryland, where he founded AI Corp.  Eventually, he moved to warmer temperatures, settling in sunny San Diego, CA, where he founded Winfix. 

He is survived by his loving family:  partner Jana; son Max and wife Lauren Westfall; grandsons Reverdy and Simon; daughter Jane and husband Julio Frausto; and sister Wilma Krauss Royall (1960). Brother George (1967) predeceased.

1964 - James Paley - “Dear Art, I thought that I would take the opportunity to share with my classmates and other interested alumni a window into what I have been doing professionally for the past 45 years. I am Executive Director of Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven, where we address housing issues and problems that first-time homebuyers frequently face in achieving their aspirations to become homeowners.

My work continues to focus on helping to revitalize and stabilize targeted neighborhoods in New Haven by promoting homeownership opportunities, providing homebuyer education and counseling, and establishing resident leadership in the communities we serve. Over the past 45 years, we have constructed or rehabilitated more than 300 homes for first-time homebuyers, and I am constantly having to raise subsidies to make it possible for us to create more homeownership opportunities on vacant lots in underserved neighborhoods in New Haven.

If any alumni are interested in reading more about our organization, here is a link to our website:  Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven

And if anyone is interested in helping us financially with a fully tax-deductible contribution, here is a direct link to the donation page on our website: https://nhsofnewhaven.org/get-involved/donate/.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share with fellow Wheatleyites what I've been up to for the past 45 years. I'm pleased to say that at least four members of the Class of 1964 already support our organization!”

Reprint of Essay by Jack Wolf (1967) Published in Newsletter # 182

Jack Wolf (1967) Writes - “On Being Number 1 - I think that I had a good public education, and I am grateful for that. I still remember Mr. Pagliaro and the Missouri Compromise, along with the art teacher with no bra (or was that North Side?). Adolescents definitely have interests other than academics. I still hold the record for balancing on two legs of my chair in a class, having spent a whole French class in the air in eighth grade. My education allowed me to be a better informed 'good for nothing' in the hippy years, before coming to my senses and getting a job, other than selling poems or hallucinogens on the streets of Denver.

But in response to the recent revelling in Wheatley's pre-eminence as the ‘best school,' as portrayed by people who fetishize being the top dog, the creme de la creme, my spiritual leanings always argue for humility instead of the guy with the big Number 1 finger at the ballgame.

I am likely in the minority, who feel that all of the self-congratulation at Wheatley avoids the obvious. Wheatley was a rich school. Wheatley was an all-white school. There were negligible poor people at Wheatley, There were no blacks or Puerto Ricans in my class of 1967, one Asian person. Some of that was housing discrimination, even as the liberal district was marching for freedom for those in the Jim Crow South.

I am no progressive politically, and I don’t buy most of the equity arguments from the anti-racist crowd. But I am a religious person, and so I value humility over winning the contest for being the bestest. The thing about being at the top is that it necessitates a lot of people being lower than you. So being in a top school in a wealthy district means that a lot of other people were in 'piss poor' schools in poor districts.

My ascetic instincts dislike elitism. I would rather see people facing hardship prosper than the top dogs securing the top dog advantages. There are finite resources, and education has been the key to keeping the elites at the top, or as a wonderful book worth reading calls them, the "Dream Hoarders" ( Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Middle Class Is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That Is a Problem, and What to Do About It: Reeves, Richard, author of President Kennedy: 9780815729129: Amazon.com: Books) That books breaks with the progressive narrative about some small group of super billionaires making everybody else miserable (not that I harbor great sympathy for Musk, et al.) but points out the way that the upper educated professional class of lawyers, doctors, financial consultants maintains their ever increasing share of the pie through Kaplan courses and academic requirements, Ivy league cachet, and through the Wheatleys of the world.

My best friend died recently. Frank Nieves didn't go to Wheatley but to school in Spanish Harlem, which afforded him a trip to Vietnam. As an adult, we shared a lot - our love of salsa dancing primarily and our reminiscences of New York. But what was obvious was that he was raised in a world that was totally different from my experience in the Elysian Fields of Old Westbury. My family's progressive politics emphasized sympathy for the poor, but I still existed in a world distinctly set aside for the privileged. I would have had a hard time hanging with my friend Frank, because I absorbed so much of the upper-class intellectual identity that my parents, who grew up in the slums, themselves, wanted me to have. I sympathize with my parents, who grew up in poverty and then war, and I understand that they wanted a suburban utopia free of those things they had to endure, but I left to join the real world..

I am not anti-intellectual. I still love Mr. Pagliaro for his passion for teaching the Missouri Compromise every year for thirty years. I loved the man. And I had a great education. Mr. Seiderman’s unintended assignment of the Bhagavad Gita in some 10th grade elective put me on the path of a spiritual pilgrim. But what my spirituality teaches me is to favor the benefit of others over oneself and not to seek advantage for oneself beyond the normal that all people should enjoy. 

Jack Wolf, Farmer Labor Party of The Wheatley School (1966)”

Scott Geery (1967) Writes - “Refreshing words, Jack, Thanks.”

Billy Meyn (1974) Writes - “I intend to augment Jack Wolf's comments, not to rebut them  I went to four different high schools in four years: Wheatley; Menchville VA: Pascack Valley High, NJ; Eastport NY.  My experience in four different schools increased my appreciation for Wheatley,   It also increased my empathy and understanding for others with different backgrounds. My 10th-grade year in VA was the year that the school was racially integrated by court ordered busing. Some lessons are learned outside the classroom.  I did well enough to gain acceptance to the US Coast Guard Academy.  I always credited my strong background in the EWUFSD for my success.  Acceptance at the USCGA was based on SAT scores and class rank.  My SATs were OK (680 math, 620 English) but not spectacular.  I graduated #3 from a  small school with 80 students in the graduating class (Eastport),  I was the top ranked MALE at a time when the USCGA accepted only males (1974 -- women were accepted starting 1976).  Graduating from Eastport is more likely to have secured my spot at USCGA (and 45 years of employment in the Coast Guard) than anything else, even though Eastport is ranked 283rd in NY State.  I agree with Jack's appeal to humbleness. Life has a strong element of randomness.  Contrary to Shakespeare's  claim in Julius Cesar:   the fault sometimes IS in our stars as much as in ourselves, for better or worse.  I was lucky twice.”

1968 - Chris Srinivasan - Celebrating His Life - 12/7/24 - Noon

Saturday, December 7, 2024, Paisley-Tribeca, 429 Greenwich Street, NYC

Seth Bardo (1967) Writes - In writing about Chris Srinivasan, I don’t want to repeat any of the tributes to him that were so graciously crafted by my classmates Jim Seaton and Arthur Engoron. What I do want to share in retrospect is my admiration for the way that Chris lived his life in challenging circumstances. Adolescence poses its own myriad of hurdles; with great maturity, Chris faced the additional burden of being the only kid who looked like him. As Jack Wolf pointed out in his recent reflection about the Wheatley community, our school and neighborhoods were homogenized. The Srinivasans were different-they were Indian.`

Chris and I spent a fair amount of time together. He was, I imagine, like having a younger brother. We hung out together, mutual interests creating a bond between us, one forged by an overriding desire to escape suburbia. I regret that we never did talk about his ‘otherness’; it did not occur to me as a subject for discussion, while for Chris it must have shaped his daily reality in profound, often painful, ways. There is always a cost for straddling two worlds. The only way he acknowledged his separateness was in his choice of clothing. While many of us wore chinos and button down shirts, Chris expressed himself, his individuality, with a unique sartorial style: black turtle neck and pants, boots, and leather jacket.

Reflecting on Chris’s life, I feel a surge of emotion, of gratefulness to him for teaching me through his charismatic quiet presence that ‘difference’ was not strange, but instead a source for joy.

1967-1980-1989 - At Lawyer Event

L-R - Alexander Tisch (1989), Deborah Rosenthal (1980), Art Engoron (1967)

1973 - Leonard Weinstock - Lenny is doing a medical research project on a common, but rarely recognized syndrome - mast cell activation syndrome. He needs a group of generally healthy people from 18 to 84 years of age to fill out an anonymous, private health survey. The project is approved by a human study committee and takes 5 -10 minutes to complete. The link is https://www.PatientsCount.org/survey/NMC  -- Thank you for your helping.

1974 - Videos from the Wheatley Class of 1974 50th-Year Reunion - Compiled by Cliff Gaines (1974) - Submitted by Class Correspondent Debra Copeland (1974)

[[[Editor’s Note - To access and play the videos, you might have to click on a big arrow in the middle of the graphic, then somewhere/anywhere in the dark area, then on a small arrow in the bottom left hand corner……something like that.]]]

Link to “This is Us / Then and Now”

Link to “Buddy Pics” Video

Link to Photo Montage of Party

2009 - Amanda Hartman Ryan - “This is Stewart, formerly known by Hearts & Bones Rescue as Butter Cow. He is a one-year-old basset hound puppy from Texas who loves playing fetch and lying in everyone's laps. 😍”

Fan Mail

1960 (Elaine Kent Abrams) - “Thanks for your time in keeping us up-to-date.”

1965 (Jeffrey Orling) - “YIKES, Art, A great big thank you for the journeys down Memory Lane that you create.  I am a big fan of these emails. They are fabulous. You outdo yourself with each edition. I love reading these, and I am pleased to contribute. Jeffrey”

1967 (Scott Frishman) - “Hey Art, Great Newsletter, as usual.”

1968 (Ellen Alpert Aronow) - “Thanks for your continued amazing work with the Newsletter.”

1968 (Leslie Wolowitz) - “I read the Newsletters as soon as they arrive, and I love all the news. Keep up the good work.”

1981 (Gary Korn) - “You have set up an amazing site. I have followed it for years, and I appreciate the effort!”

2009 (Amanda Hartman Ryan) - “I love all of the Newsletters.”

The Official Notices

All underlined text is a link-to-a-link or a link-to-an-email-address. Clicking anywhere on underlined text, and then clicking on the text that pops up, will get you to your on-line destination or will address an email.

In the first 24 or so hours after publication, Wheatley Alumni Newsletter # 182 was viewed 2,755 times and was liked seven times. In all, 4,717 email addresses received Newsletter # 182.

For all of October 4,719 email addresses received the Newsletter, which was accessed approximately 18,500 times.

The Usual Words of Wisdom

Thanks to our fabulous Webmaster, Keith Aufhauser (Class of 1963), you can regale yourself with the first 182 Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletters (and much other Wheatley data and arcana) at

The Wheatley School Alumni Association Website

Also thanks to Keith is our search engine, prominently displayed on our home page: type in a word or phrase and, wow!, you’ll find every place it exists in all previous Newsletters and other on-site material.

I edit all submissions, even material in quotes, for clarity and concision, without any indication thereof.  I cannot and do not vouch for the accuracy of what people tell me, as TWSAA does not have a fact-checking department.

We welcome any and all text and photos relevant to The Wheatley School, 11 Bacon Road, Old Westbury, NY 11568, and the people who administered, taught, worked, and/or studied there. Art Engoron, Class of 1967

Closing

That’s it for The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 183.  Please send me your autobiography before someone else sends me your obituary.

Art

Arthur Fredericks Engoron, Class of 1967

WHEATLEYALUMNI@AOL.COM

ARTENGORON@GMAIL.COM

WWW.WHEATLEYALUMNI.ORG

646-872-4833