The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 120
Another Blast from "Spare Time Productions"
Dear Wheatley Wildcats and Other Interested Persons,
Welcome to The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 120.
According to Substack, in the first 24 hours after publication, Newsletter # 119 was viewed 3,085 times, was “liked” 22 times, and received seven positive comments. In all, 4,655 email addresses received Issue # 119.
All underlined text is a link-to-a-link. Left-clicking anywhere on underlined text, and then left-clicking on the link that pops up, will get you to your on-line destination.
The Usual Words of Wisdom
Thanks to our fabulous Webmaster, Keith Aufhauser (Class of 1963), you can regale yourself with the first 119 Newsletters (and much other Wheatley data and arcana) at
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 use it all the time; it works!
I edit all submissions, even material in quotes, for clarity and concision, without any indication thereof. I do not vouch for the accuracy of what people tell me.
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 and/or studied there. Art Engoron, Class of 1967
Real World Learning at Wheatley
Opportunities to Help Current Wheatley Students
Writes Wheatley Teacher Michelle Santoro - “Wheatley is presenting real-world experience opportunities to all students. The school has recently created a program to expose students to different work models and avenues of employment. The goal is for students to understand better the tangible aspects of adulthood and, more particularly, what various careers will expect from them. We would love to have Wheatley alumni be involved in the process of building this incredible program. If you are interested in helping, please click on the link below and fill out the short, simple on-line survey to receive more details!
‘Hood Politics And History
Writes Jill Simon Forte (1967) - “I definitely have to comment on Jack Wolf’s take on our area and the other parts of our extended communities. He is so correct! Bob (Forte, 1965) and I talk about that subject and reflect on our privileged schools, with little or no integration. We missed out on the opportunity to understand different areas of living and learning. But fortunately many of us still had families in Brooklyn, and we were introduced to different cultures around there.
We of the hippie generation sought out different types, and it broadened our horizons. Our years in the mostly liberal setting of Wheatley helped us to throw prejudices away even though there was still talk of it in some families. Our environment was forward thinking for many of us … thank goodness.”
Writes Hilary “Lori” Wallach - “I did not really learn that the underlying problem is economic ‘class’ (I hate that word, because of misuses) until I got to college and joined SDS. So glad to see the idea reasserted here. Thank you for the thoughtful piece, Jack (Wolf, 1967).
On another note, what I remember best about Roosevelt Field is the smell of Pizza Supreme. There was (is?) one on 8th Ave. near Penn Station, and it brought it all back.”
Writes Linda Watnick Lebowitz (1977) - “East Williston is not all Democratic!”
Faculty Appreciation
Elito Bongarzone - Writes Eliot “Ike” Evans (1965) - “I enjoyed the observations re: Mr. Bongarzone, who supplied several memorable moments, not the least of which was chasing my classmate, Malcolm ("Rusty") McNeill around the room with a meter stick after Rusty had asked a question Mr. B. deemed less than deserving of a less violent approach. I also remember him tossing a beaker of water into the sink in the front of the room. He glanced into the sink, realized he had just thrown the water into a beaker containing phosphorus, and then pulling his lab coat over his head and ducking down just prior to it exploding.”
Salvatore Signorelli - Writes Lee Nagel (1966) - I was also happy to be reminded of Mr. Signorelli. I owe him so much. He was a wonderful orchestra leader and encouraged me and my oboe, which I still play and perform with great joy.
Perhaps more important was what he did for me late in my senior year at Wheatley. On April 17, 1966, the. fateful Result Day for college applications I experienced a small disaster. My parents drove to the school and we opened all the letters in the bus circle. Seven rejections and one acceptance, to a school my parents loved but was not for me. Typically I went back to school, my parents went home, and we never spoke of it, or what I would do next. A week or two later, Mr. Signorelli approached me and let me know that he had heard of my traumatic experience. He was the first to acknowledge my problem. He asked me if I would not mind going to the University of Rochester. What could I say? Of course. Well, he said, I know the orchestra leader at the U of R, and they always need an oboist. I'll see what I can do. A while later I received a letter of admittance. No application required. I went to the U of R (with 1966 classmate Lorraine Gallard), had a glorious 4 years, and had a great love affair with the women to whom I am still married. Thank you, Mr. Signorelli.”
Elito Bongarzone - Writes Paul Riefberg (1968) - “He would say in class, ‘Stop talking while I'm interrupting, let my bad manners show.’”
Graduates
1958 - The “First Class” Meets Again!
Writes Ed Brown - “On September 8-10, 2023, Wheatley’s first class, The Class of 1958, held its 65th-year reunion. We met in Lenox, Massachusetts at the Black Swan Inn. Of course, as time has passed there have been fewer and fewer members of that extraordinary class, but those of us that did get together had a wonderful time seeing each other again and spending time together. It was a small group, but we really bonded. We spent time walking the very beautiful grounds of the Inn, went into Tanglewood one evening for a piano concert, and just sat and talked to each other. All in all, a very special experience.
Ours was the first graduating class, when The Wheatley School was first opened. We set the standards and customs for what has become one of the finest public high schools in the Nation, and we have always felt pride in that. Will there be a 70th year reunion? Or maybe even just a 66th? I hope so. Go Wildcats!!!”
Clockwise from the front left: Barbara Newman; Julien Hennefeld; Ed Brown; Manuela Youmans; Bruce Richardson; Dick Benfield.
1959 - Nan Bauer-Maglin - Sexual Relationship Survey!
Writes Nan - CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO AN ANTHOLOGY ABOUT NONTRADITIONAL LOVE RELATIONSHIPS
Several people have asked my partner and me to expand on two subjects in Gray Love: Stories About Dating and New Relationships After 60, both that do not involve marriage or even full-time living: LAT (Living Apart Together) and simultaneous partners (known or secret). Thus, we are considering putting together a book about alternate forms of amorous relations.
This anthology about forms of amorous relations will include pieces by older adults in new relationships but will also include some pieces about long-term relationships that have morphed into nontraditional forms and voices of younger people who have pioneered new forms. Besides personal experiences, we would like to include, for example, analytic pieces about the history of family formations; comparisons of youth and elder formations; how culture, race/ethnicity, age, gender, and same sex/heterosexuality manifest in alternate forms of amorous relations (for instance, how does the shortage of older men influence these relationships?); views of monogamy, non-monogamy, and polyamory; media representations of these new forms; and book reviews and podcasts about nontraditional relationships. The collection will also include memoir pieces, experiential and analytic essays, and poetry and fiction.
According to Faith Hill in “What It’s Like to Date After Middle Age,” (The Atlantic, January 8, 2020). “Older adults…are forming new relationships and finding new possibilities within them.” Hill suggests that “older adults are freer now to explore the fluidity of attraction and gender” and are thus open to innovative relationship forms. In addition, “some who have identified as heterosexual their whole life are trying out same-sex relationships that they previously thought of as off-limits,” as demonstrated by one of Gray Love’s stories. This is suggestive of older adults but may apply to younger adults as well. In fact, “interest in non-monogamy seems to be on the rise across the country, buoyed by TV shows like “Planet Sex With Cara Delevingne” and “Sex Diaries”; or discussed publicly by people like the psychologist Esther Perel and the actress Jada Pinkett Smith (on her show “Red Table Talk”) (“Interested in Polyamory?”, New York Times, 5.16.23)
For this collection, we are interested in reports about alternative relationships from writers of all ages and orientations.
Please send Nan a short description of what you are interested in writing. Include a few sentences about yourself: your age and background, where you live, and previous publications. Do not send completed pieces. Use your name, although for publication pseudonyms are acceptable.
Please forward this call to family, friends, and colleagues.
Nan Bauer-Maglin Daniel E. Hood
nan.bauermaglin99@ret.gc.cuny.edu dan.hoo42@gmail.com
Nan Bauer-Maglin, professor emerita at City University of New York, has edited or co-edited nine books. Before Gray Love, her latest book was Widows’ Words: Women Write on the Experience of Grief, The First Year, The Long Haul, and Everything In Between (Rutgers University Press, May 2019).
Daniel E. Hood, a retired sociologist, has published two books about religion and science in treating addiction, both from Routledge. “Better Late Than Never: Personal Opportunity and Family Consolidation by Delayed Birth” appeared recently in Tick Tock: How Old is Too Old to Become a Parent? (Dottir Press).
1967 - Soft-Shoe Routine - Writes Linda Caterino to Dan Silver - Dan, I am sorry that I misremembered your soft-shoe partner. I should have known it was Jack Wolf, since he is a renowned dancer! I actually had a client who had lived in North Carolina and mentioned Jack’s dancing to me.
And I was serious when I said I enjoyed the performance! It was great! But, to give credit to Dave Nathanson, he might have been the author of "Toad on a Grecian Urinal".
I may also have confused our Oxford English Dictionary word presentations in Mrs. Kleinsinger's class with the dance opportunity provided by Mrs. Auerbach (“Don't say ‘guy,’ say ‘fellow, lad, chap...’). I do remember a lengthy discussion on the roots of the word "motley" in Mrs. Kleinsinger's class. Some of our classmates were extremely creative and so talented! Linda”
1967 - Howard Senft - Writes Jill Simon Forte (1967) - “I loved seeing Howard Senft at his original wedding.”
1967 - Writes Jack Wolf - “I remember Dan Silver and I loving vaudevillian shticks.”
1967 - Mary Ann Young-Winiger - Found!
Writes Mary Ann - “Hi Art, Your search for me is over, as you now have my contact information! The photo in the previous Newsletter was of of me and a friend that my husband and I met while in Egypt. Here is a more recent photo of just me and my husband. 😊
We sold our home in Sedona, Arizona almost 3 years ago and have been nomads ever since. We sold everything and with everything we owned in 4 suitcases we flew to Egypt, as most European countries required a two-week quarantine. These past years, we’ve been living in Airbnb’s, hotel rooms and cabins on cruise ships. Each place became ‘home’ very quickly. My husband is Swiss, and I have Swiss citizenship, which allows me to be in Europe with no time constraints.
We love not needing a car. We use buses, trams, trains and ferries. We are not fond of flying so avoid it whenever we can. We do transatlantic cruises to go between the USA and Europe. It’s such a relaxing way to travel. We really enjoy cruising and have explored many places by ship. The photo is from a 45-day cruise from San Diego to Polynesia – such beautiful islands! Right now, we are in Grenoble, France for a month. Then we’ll travel to Lausanne, Switzerland to visit our granddaughter and her husband. She is a teacher at the International School Lausanne. Our other granddaughter is a chef in Galway, Ireland. It’s been wonderful to be so close to them for all these years.
And although it’s been an amazing journey, we feel it’s soon time to return to the USA. We’ll embark on a transatlantic journey to NYC in November.
Warm regards to everyone. Mary Ann Young-Winiger”
1968 - Asoka Bandarage and Donna Brescia - Writes Asoka - “So nice to hear from Donna! I had my introduction to Italian food, and the best Italian food ever, at her house. Donna's family were wonderful! Fond memories. Asoka”
1972 - Linda Kaufman - “I’ve been living in Southern California since graduating SUNY, Oneonta 47 years ago! Blessed to have two grown ‘kids’: my son and family living in San Francisco and my daughter and her family in the Nashville area. Four, soon-to-be-five, grandkids👏💃🏻😎 Linda ( Lydia) Kaufman”
1973 - Gail Gimbel - Classic Photo
First Row, L-R - Lauren Karasyk Ryan Oakley, Dana Devon, Bonnie Greenberg (in striped shirt), Amy Hershcopf, Dale Kramer (in pigtails), Laraine Hare Tanzer
Second Row, L-R - Tina Helfer (wearing glasses), Tina White(?) (partially obscured), Ellen Goodman (or Susan Marcus)
Background - Gail Gimbel
1980 - Michael Baltzer - Poet
Angels of America
We are the Angels of America.
Almost three thousand strong.
With names like, Smith, Jones and Murray,
The list goes on and on.
Together one September morning.
The year two thousand and one.
Our day was just starting.
Our lives lit up by the sun.
Then from Heavens that were parting,
Hell unleashed with no warning.
Bringing the time for our calling.
In our towers that were falling.
We hail from all walks of life.
From countries big and small.
We represent all races, all religions.
Together we stand tall.
Some of us wore uniforms,
For they we are most proud!!
Some of us wore suits,
As so many faces of our crowd!!
Some of us came from the sky,
As passengers on a plane.
Others just happen upon us,
We took them just the same!!
We are the Angels of America.
We guide your everyday.
We are the Angels of America.
We are with you when you pray.
Together now as one,
Our names upon a wall.
Together now as one,
We heed a higher call.
Come to gather, come to pray,
Shed a tear, go on your way.
Come to gather, come to pray,
Have no fear, come hear us say.
Live your lives to the fullest,
We will guide you as you go.
Never our love will diminish,
As new seeds you shall sow.
We know our day you will never forget.
A loss that all good people surely regret.
When things got bad we tried to get out,
But from the Heavens, we heard a shout.
At Trinity Church you'll come and sit
Our candles we see, will always be lit.
Forever now, our bells do toll.
Forever now, this our role.
The FDNY came to our rescue.
The PAPD and NYPD came too.
Up the stairs they did trudge,
Being led by Father Judge.
For those of you who made it
We know you serve us well.
We see you when you visit.
We hear our stories you do tell.
Come to gather, come to pray
Shed a tear, go on your way.
Come to gather, come to pray.
Have no fear, come hear us say.
10 House will lead the call,
O'Hara's is the place.
Stay until you hear "Last Call"
Reminisce full of grace.
We are the Angels of America.
We guide your everyday.
We are the Angels of America.
Remember us this way!!!!”
Submitted by Lori Lojacono Baltzer, 1983
1984 - Beth Pries - Cancer Journey
Wites Beth - I've been working on sharing my cancer journey and how I've been beating the odd since 2017.
I am now posting videos on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter/X, TikTok, and Facebook.
Please follow me and view, like, and share the videos and sites. The more this get out, the more we together can help others just starting their cancer journey.
You can easily find my pages by searching I Have Cancer Now What on each social media platform or click on the links below.
https://www.youtube.com/@IHaveCancerNowWhat
https://www.instagram.com/i.havecancernowwhat/
https://twitter.com/ihavecancernow
https://www.tiktok.com/@ihavecancernowwhat
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094224948378...
A look back (approximately 12 years)
L-R - Judge, Law Clerk, Court Clerk, Court Officer
Fan Mail
Administration (Wheatley Principal Joseph Wiener) - “Another insightful and humorous newsletter. Congratulations on your son’s engagement!! I wish them a lifetime of happiness.” ❤️
Faculty (Robert Brandt) - ❤️
1959 (Tracey Lanthier) - “Another great newsletter....Thanks.”
1960 (Joanne Festa) - ❤️
1961 (Deborah Kerstein Brosowsky) - ❤️
1962 (Richard Glassman) - ❤️
1962 (Karen Strumpfler Tucker) - ❤️
1963 (Marcia Friedman Mayer) - “I love this newsletter! Don't know how you find the time to do it, but we sure do appreciate it! And -- congratulations on your son's engagement!”
1963 (Donna Kenton) - “Hello from Fire Island! Mazel tov on your son’s engagement. It’s wonderful that you like his future wife. That makes life a lot more pleasant! I’m happy for you.”
1963 (Jeanne Langlois Kull) - ❤️
1964 (Richard Ilsley) - ❤️
1965 (Eliot “Ike” Evans) - “Hi Art - great newsletter as always. -- Ike”
1965 (Malcolm McNeill) - “Funny, my son’s name is also ‘Ian,’ and he’s an attorney like your son. I truly enjoy reading your newsletter, Art. It is a masterful piece of history and journalism, with a bit of poetry thrown in!”
1965 (Jeffrey Orling) - “Art, Once again I enjoyed a delightful read about my youth. You are a saint to produce these. I hope others share some memories and you in turn share them with the readers of your emails. I wonder how many from the period still have close relationships that have endured 60+ years. Keep ‘em coming Art! Thank you! Jeffrey”
1965 (Laurel Osrow) - ❤️
1967 (Eve Brunswick Appleton) - ❤️
1967 (Jill Simon Forte) - “I loved the latest Newsletter) as usual. CONGRATULATIONS on your son’s engagement. (you are quite a bit behind Bob and me , as we have grandchildren already 🤣🤣🤣🤣
1967 (Marjorie Gross) - “Thank you for keeping me on your mailing list, and congratulations on your son’s engagement. Warm regards, Marjorie Hope Gross”
1967 (Barbara Smith Stanisic) - ❤️
(1967) - Mary Ann Young-Winiger - “Reading all the stories, especially from our 1967 classmates, has been wonderful. You have done such an incredible job of keeping everyone connected for so many years! I enjoy reading the Wheatley Newsletters and am always touched by them.”
1968 (Donna Brescia) - “Thanks so much, Art, for keeping us all connected, or at least seeing who we became! The wonderful thing about technology is that we don’t ‘lose’ people anymore! You’re really are re-building the Wheatley community. I was particularly happy to see input from Asoka Bandarage….a good friend so many years ago!” ❤️
1968 (Gary Matthesen) - “Job well done...I’m proud of you!”
1969 (Richard Frankfort) - “Thank you and keep up the great work.” ❤️
1969 (Paula Panzeca Foresto) - ❤️
1969 (Steve Wolfert) - ❤️
1970 (Maria Giordano Gittleman) - ❤️
1970 (George Nierenberg) - ❤️
1970 (David Packer) - “Congratulations on the Newsletter!”
1972 (Arlene Acker) - ❤️
1972 (Jeffrey Kargman) - “Art, I so look forward to receiving your newsletter and am amazed by the work that you do to keep us informed.” ❤️
1972 (Linda Kaufman) - “Thank you, Art, for your monthly dedication to coordinating the Wheatley Newsletter and sending us alumni updates.”
1972 (David Resnicow) - ❤️
1973 (Gail Gimbel) - “Issue # 119 was fun. I enjoyed seeing the photographs of people.”
1974 (Elyse Beyer Rame) - “Hi Art, Once again, thank you so much for your hard work in keeping us all up to date on everything Wheatley. Congratulations on your son’s engagement. All the best. Elyse Beyer (Rame, Class of 74)”
1976 (Robin Firetog Glanzberg) ❤️
1977 (Arthur Barnett) - ❤️
1977 (Steven Camp) - ❤️
1977 (Peter Fitzpatrick) - ❤️
1977 (Jon Sternlieb) - ❤️
1977 (Linda Watnick Lebowitz) - “Congratulation on your son’s engagement!”
1978 (Elaine Schattner) - “Art, Thanks for all that you do to keep the community together!”
1979 (Janet King) - “Hi Art, Congratulations on your son’s engagement. If they want a harpist for their Long Island wedding, I’m your Wheatley ‘79 harpist!”
1980 (Karen Kruse) - ❤️
Closing
That’s it for The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 120. Please send me your autobiography before someone else sends me your obituary.
Art
Arthur Fredericks Engoron, Class of 1967
646-872-4833
I gratefully read the newsletter sent to Wheatley graduates by our own hometown hero. It's comforting to read your words on the front page of The Times as well as in our email. Thanks, Art, for your strength.
Another great letter. Thanks for the fine job...Tracey Lanthier class. 1959