The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 114.
And the Hits Just Keep on Coming
Dear Wheatley Wildcats and Other Interested Persons,
Welcome to The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 114.
According to Substack, in the first 25 hours after publication Newsletter # 113 was viewed 3,137 times, was “liked” 27 times, and received three comments (all positive). In all, 4,648 (or so) email addresses received Newsletter # 113.
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 113 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
What’s In a Name?
Writes David Greenapple (1979) - “To Bill Rutenberg (1964): I vividly remember ‘Doc’ Wills, Wheatley’s legendary music teacher, telling me the exact same story: that the name "The Wheatley School" was chosen rather than just "Wheatley" because "The --- School" made it sound like a private prep-school. Maybe true, maybe not, but I can say retrospectively that the education was world-class and the graduates have become some of the most successful people collectively. Either way, if two people said it 50+ years ago, I’m going with ‘True.’”
Football and Fencing
Writes Scott S. Kramer (1994) - “Hi Arthur! In light of the fact that the decline of the Wheatley football program continues to be a popular topic in the newsletter, Peter Calderon’s sharing his great fencing achievements that started years ago at Wheatley reminded me of the first verse of the parody song I wrote and performed for the 1993 Mr./Ms. Wheatley Contest as part of the Varsity Revue show:
(Sung to the tune of ‘Lola’ by the Kinks)
This is a song I wrote about school,
Where there is no football, but fencing is cool
At Wheatley
Wh-wh-wh-wh-wheatley.
LOL
Scott S. Kramer, Class of 1994
Faculty
Writes Len Jacobs (1961) - “I was happy to see my classmate Peter Calderon’s affectionate mention of Mrs. Meisel. She was my favorite teacher and took a shine to me; I guess she must have seen my profound unhappiness due to my family situation. She took me under her wing and brought me out of the darkness and into the light, giving me the impetus I needed to study hard and succeed. I hope that she reads this comment. God bless her and keep her for eternity!
Writes Richard Weissman - “Art, two more teachers are worthy of special recognition in the Newsletter ... First is Jacqueline Hennelly (1926 - 2017), who taught English at Wheatley from 1963 through 1997 (34 years!). She was one of the finest teachers at Wheatley, and I thoroughly enjoyed being in her class. She taught me how to write in ways that I had not previously learned (and my mom was an English teacher at Herricks!). Her love of literature and writing was contagious, and each day in her classroom was an intellectual delight. I looked forward to those classes, her lectures and discussions. She was a remarkable teacher and an incredibly kind and wonderful human being.
Second is John Devlin (I could not find his obituary with dates), Wheatley math teacher and department head. He imparted a love of math that I take with me to this day (I obtained my undergrad, 2 masters, and Ph.D. program in quantitative analytics/statistics, and it was Mr. Devlin who started me down this path of data science). He gave me the gift of understanding math as a language (and not simply formulas to memorize) and an appreciation that mathematics consists of finding patterns in our world through quantification. He opened up a world that I hadn't previously seen, one of symbols and relationships between numbers that was transformational. His classes were inspirational, and I would look forward to them. He was a kind and sensitive person who knew how to connect with his students. Kudos to both of these wonderful teachers and their abilities to excite students in ways that last a lifetime. Richard (‘Rich’) Weissman, Class of 1972 (graduated 1971)”
Graduates
1961 - Peter Calderon - Writes Classmate Len Jacobs - “Peter: Happy to see you doing so well. I’m glad to see you flourishing and shining through.”
1962 - William Cerillo - Gym Class Blues
Writes Bill - “Hello Art…..I always look forward to your wonderful Wheatley Class Notes. One that caught my attention in a recent collection (#112) is a submission from Howard Grindlinger, a classmate. I doubt that he remembers me, after these over 60 years, but I remember him from, of all places, our gym class. Neither of us enjoyed gym class; more accurately, we both hated gym class. We must have shared adjacent lockers, which fostered conversation on a favorite subject— how to get out of gym class. At the end of senior year Howard offered to write a note in my yearbook, the gist of which was:”Well, Bill, at least we.don’t have to worry about coming up with excuses to get out of gym class anymore!” This is what I remember as I lie here at an assisted living facility in the Bay Area, my seventh such facility and which I assume will be my final one (I am now on a respirator because of a dangerously low oxygen level, together with prior diagnoses of Parkinson’s disease and cancer). I have the yearbook in which Howard’s comment is contained, but unfortunately my review of his comment will have to wait until I am discharged. However, I am confident the account set forth above is an accurate summary.
I was pleased that Howard reminded the Wheatley community of our truly wonderful English department—Miss Meisel was a “teacher’s teacher” who brought Charles Dickens and others to life; Mrs. Auerbach loved good literature; and Mr. Storm discussed Hemingway’s For Whom The Bell Tolls and in his stentorian voice declared, “Don’t ask for whom the bell tolls for IT TOLLS FOR THEE!”
Many of the. entries that are listed in the Newsletter tend to deal with Wheatley’s past football and soccer achievements. Nothing wrong with this, but it was refreshing to find a submission dealing with the excellence of Wheatley’s English program and to remind alumni that Wheatley’s primary aim was to offer an education, something which it succeeded at doing. How fortunate we all were?!
Howard tells us he became a doctor. Upon graduation from Wheatley I went to Colgate and had planned on being a doctor. I loved Colgate in large part due to its core curriculum of required courses, the first of which, Philosophy and Religion, was difficult but to me laid the foundation for my ultimate career as a lawyer.
However, shortly after arriving at Colgate my plan to.become a doctor was permanently set aside because “JFK intervened.” I hate to place the full blame on JFK’s shoulders, but there we have it. He put an end to my medical career. I switched from premed to political science/history. Like many of my generation, I was taken with JFK’s political idealism and charm. It has been said that many young men wished to BE JFK, and many young women wished to BE WITH JFK. Whether BE or BE WITH, he was a popular President who certainly did not deserve his fate.
After three grueling years of law school at Cornell, I was a full-fledged lawyer. This for me included a two-year stint at the Justice Department, followed by various law firm affiliations. Despite the ups and infrequent downs of law practice, I hark back to the analytical skills developed at Wheatley, Colgate, and Cornell Law. I remember one lawyer, an associate at the venerable Nixon Mudge Mitchell law firm, commenting: “Bill, you write so beautifully and SO CLEARLY” (and this coming from an associate who graduated from CalTech and Harvard Law School!). At the firm where I spent the most number of years—the now huge McDermott Will & Emery where I concentrated on antitrust cases— I was given the moniker “The man with the golden pen.” I can think of worse descriptions. At any rate, I attribute whatever skills I developed as a lawyer to the fine education I received at Wheatley, Colgate and Cornell Law. Each laid the academic and intellectual foundation for my legal career.
I hope the above is not too much of a digression from Howard Grindlinger and my aversion to gym class, but I pay homage to our wonderful editor who warns each of us to send an autobiography before someone else sends him our obituary. So I hope this will deter anyone who even thinks about my autobiography, much less my obituary.
The late Adlai Stevenson was once asked for advice on giving a speech, to which he replied:”Be short...be sweet ..and be seated.” I hope this mini life story doesn’t depart too much from that advice.
1965 - Jeffrey Orling - Art, I suppose some people from Wheatley maintained friendships from back then. I do occasionally wonder what became of some of my classmates. My memory is so lousy I can't even remember names. I do try occasionally. Seeing the photos from today, I can't recognize a soul. I suppose that is to be expected.
I love opera and ballet. The older I get, the more I appreciate the artistry and craft. I was attending MetOpera and American Ballet Theater and New York City Ballet regularly until Covid. I think I will start again. I love Tosca! I remember when they built the Long Island Expressway. It was a big change.
1964 - Brian Stone - Friends with Bill “Buzz” Bosshart (1974)
Writes Buzz - “Long after graduating from Wheatley I had the great fortune to meet Brian Stone (1964). He was a good friend of one of my work buddies. What is surprising to me was that Brian lived in the “S Section” only a few blocks away from my childhood home. We never met, as I am Class of 1974.
The Class of 1964 may remember Brian as the guy who drove his motorcycle in the Wheatley Courtyard. While I was not there, to the best of my knowledge and belief this is true. My wife and I have known the Stones now for nearly 30 years, and we think they are the very best. Ellen is as funny as Brian, and he is a humorous guy. Ellen got put on a project with Brian at the DA’s office, and the rest is history (and Brian’s story to tell)!
This shot was taken at their home. They live in Maryland, outside of St. Michaels, and it's truly backcountry. However, they found a wonderful enclave on the water, surrounded by what appears to be NY metro area refugees. Go figure!”
1965 - Gibb Geery - Writes Shirley Vogl Quarantello - “A yearbook signing from my friend Gibb.
It says, roughly, ‘Shirley, From a man of distinction to a girl of distinction. If your hair gets longer, I’ll fall in love with you. It feels like it should rhyme. grgeery. Shirl is a funny name.’ Condolences to the Geery family.”
1966 - Mini-Reunion in New York City in June
L-R - Bev Berman Hornick, Suzanne Stone, Charline Krakauer Fredericksen
1967 - Art Engoron - Then and Now
Blow-up from kindergarten class photo (Ms. Doxey).
With Law Clerk and Court Officer at 80 Centre Street a few years ago.
1972 - Gail Biggs Russo -
Writes husband Michael Russo (Long Island Lutheran High School 1980) - I have a two-part interview with Gail that answers the question, “What did you do during the pandemic?” Answer: she made face masks, over 1100 of them. Part One is here, https://traffic.libsyn.com/creativecareunit/CCU_Episode_27_MP3.mp3, and Part Two is here https://traffic.libsyn.com/creativecareunit/CCU_Episode_26_MP3.mp3.
[Editor’s Note - Audio only, no video; your computer is not broken]
1974 - Bill “Buzz” Bosshart - With Siblings
L-R - Buzz Bosshart (1974), Marianne Bosshart (1976), Mat Bosshart (1984). Recently!
Buzz Bosshart “around his 67th birthday.”
1975 - Big Apple Lunch - Dan Weiss, Ann Forstenzer, Susie Rotholz, Nancy Young,
L-R - Dan Weiss, Ann Forstenzer, Susie Rotholz, Nancy Young (all 1975)
Writes Susie - “Nancy Young, Ann Forstenzer, Daniel Weiss and I got together in NY for a wonderful lunch.”
1975 - Writes Robert Vincze - “Dan Weiss, congrats on your stellar run at the Met. More great things to come.”
1978 - Liat Jarkon - “Hi Art, I’m a physician, educator, and mental health advocate. I’ve been practicing psychiatry for over 36 years, a medical school professor for the last six years, and a News 12 commentator about Long Island and the Tristate area for the last two years. I serve as a mental health expert and am currently being featured in monthly mental health segments. Wishing everyone good health!”
1983 - Marian Brown - “I Love Rhoda Kalkin Schneider’s Mogol Gogol recipe!”
Fan Mail
1958 (Carol Gettleman Berkowitz) - ❤️
1958 (Manuela Youmans Kanners) - ❤️
1959 (Steve Kaplin) - ❤️
1960 (Joanne Festa) - ❤️
1962 (William Cerillo) - “Thanks, Art, for your great stewardship of the Newsletter!”
1962 (Dick Glassman) - ❤️
1962 (David Friedman) - ❤️
1962 (Stephanie Saxon Levine) - ❤️
1962 (Karen Strumpfler Tucker) - ❤️
1963 (Donna Harmelin Rivkin) - “Thank you, Art.” ❤️
1964 (Natalie Cobb Wentworth) - ❤️
1964 (Susan Obrant) - “Arthur, I never tire of your newsletter! Wheatley was a unique institution and its memory remains fresh.” ❤️
1965 (Jeffrey Orling) - “Thanks again for the fun read. Going down Memory Lane is nice. I look forward to the Newsletters!”
1966 (Beverly Berman Hornick) - “I love reading all the Newsletters and feeling connected.” ❤️❤️❤️
1967 (Jill Simon Forte) - “I loved the newsletter, as usual, especially seeing the names of people I remember (and, of course, my handsome husband with his guitar).
1967 (Barbara Smith Stanisic) - ❤️
1968 (Carol Belsky) - ❤️
1968 (Lois Hegyi Goldstein) - ❤️
1968 (Carol Wisker) - ❤️
1969 (Ronni Seltzer) - ❤️
1969 (James Wallach) - ❤️
1970 (Maria Giordano Gittleman) - ❤️
1970 (Jody Markil Ibur) - “Thank you for all you do. I enjoy reading the Newsletter!”
1970 (Joel Parker) - ❤️
1971 (Wayne Peiser) - “Reading about Wheatley in the olden days has been interesting.”
1972 (Arlene “Ally” Acker) - ❤️
1972 (Robin Freier Edwards) - ❤️
1974 (Ellen Barnett Diana) - ❤️
1974 (Gail LaPasta Gannotti) - ❤️
1974 (Cathy Michaelson Lieblich) - “Thank you, Art, for creating this Newsletter and sending it to all of us on a regular basis. I have more time to read it now that my husband, Mark, and I are retired. I’m busy with volunteer work and traveling, but it’s not the same as working a full-time job. I have fond memories of my time at Wheatley, especially the experience of being in SWS (School Within a School).” ❤️
1975 (Susan “Susie” Rotholz) - “Thank you for such devotion in keeping us all reading about each other and keeping up with our past lives and friends. Thank you for what you do!”
1976 (Mary Costello Willis) - ❤️
1976 (Robin Firetog Glanzberg) - ❤️
1977 (Roberta Dreier Guercio) - ❤️
1977 (Peter Fitzpatrick) - ❤️
1978 (Liat Jarkon) - “Thank you for keeping our Wheatley ‘family’ connected!”
1978 (Jennifer Orowitz McKoane) - ❤️
1981 (Gyll Gates Sbrocchi) - ❤️
1983 (Andrew Hoffman) - ❤️
2004 (Kerry E. Wystrach) - “I always look forward to reading each of these! Thanks as always!”
Closing
That’s it for The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 114. Please send me your autobiography before someone else sends me your obituary.
Art
Arthur Fredericks Engoron, Class of 1967
646-872-4833
As I have said before Art, you are amazing! Thanks so much for inspiring us to share heartfelt memories & life stories.....the photo of Charline, Bev and myself was taken during our 75th Birthday celebration in NYC!!