The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 90

Dear Wheatley Wildcats and Other Interested Persons,

Welcome to The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 90.

According to Substack, in the first 24 hours after publication Newsletter # 89 was viewed 3,027 times, was “liked” 18 times, and garnered two comments (neither negative).

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

Six-Year-Old School Shooting

Six-Year-Old School Shooting

Jay Cummings (1960) Responds - “It has nothing to do with legislators. It’s failed parenting. It’s a violent liberal Hollywood product. It’s a failed Teachers’ Union led by the child-killer Randi Weingarten unnecessarily closing schools and masking children who we now see was not necessary and losing two years of development listening to that mad scientist Fauci.

The highest crime rates in American cities are the ones who have the strictest gun control, i.e., New York, Chicago, and L.A. The problem is that Lightfoot (Chicago) Adams (NYC), and Bass (L.A.) are liberal loons who don’t get it.

Charlie Nash (1973) Responds - “It is tragic that a six-year-old was able to obtain a firearm.  The laws of our nation should clearly provide that the custodial parent(s) of a minor are both civilly and criminally liable for the use of a firearm by their minor child.

The Usual Words of Wisdom

Thanks to our fabulous Webmaster, Keith Aufhauser (Class of 1963), you can regale yourself with the first 89 Newsletters (and 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, mirabile dictu, 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 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

More about Murray The K!

Writes Dan Ross (1969) - “Hey Art, I went to that 1967 Murray the K concert you wrote about last week. Ever since, nobody’s believed me when I told them I went to a concert that was the first US appearance of both the Who and Cream, neither of which I’d heard of at the time. I’ll never forget seeing Pete Townshend smashing his guitar and thinking WTF! I had forgotten all the other great performers, too. What a crazy mix of music! T hanks for publishing that poster, which brings it all back home (to borrow another phrase from the time).

Writes Art Engoron - “That lineup is insane! Dan, was it all on one day?”

Administrators

Clayton Akin - Writes Halayne Ehrenberg (1969) - Hi Art,  From the "‘It's a small world’ department...." I've known Clayton Akin's widow, Carol, since college, and I met Clayton a few times.

I forwarded her Wheatley Alumni Newsletter # 86, and she provided updated information on the Akin family, which you have permission to use if you wish to.

Clayton Akin's 3 children while living in East Williston were Linda, Daniel and Adele: 

Linda is, yes, living in Asheville, NC. She has a daughter, Rae, and 2 sons, Daniel and Erik. Rae has two boys.

Daniel is married and living in California and has two grown step-children.

Adele is married, living in Nashville, TN, has a widowed son, Seth, and a granddaughter, Sophia. Adele also has a daughter, Geneva, who is married and has three young children, Harley, Georgia and Anderson.

After East Williston, Clayton and his then wife had another son, Ray, who lives in NY, and has 5 grown children.  After Wheatley, Clayton was a School Superintendent for 30 years, until retiring in 1989.

After his divorce, Clayton met Carol Bradshaw, also a Christian Scientist, and married her, and they had two children,

Caryn, married with two children, and Brad, also married with two children.  They all live in Westchester County, NY.  

BTW, my family didn't move to East Williston until 1966, so it really is a small world!”

Graduates

1960 - The Secrets to the Class of 1960’s Success

Writes Paul Hennessy - “In answer to the question, “What’s the Glue?” posed in our 1960 classmate Lucy Mullman’s evocative poem, I’d suggest it’s long-lived Wheatley School spirit, and great memories of happy times in a nurturing school, now enhanced by Art Engoron’s excellent reporting on the interesting life stories of productive, talented alumni. Cheers to all in the coming year 🍀🍷”

1961 - Tim Jerome - Amazing “Show Business” Career

In 2019 Tim starred as Henri Matisse in Jesse Kornbluth’s play THE COLOR OF LIGHT at the Schoolhouse Theater in North Salem, NY.  He last appeared on Broadway in the role of Monsieur Firmin in Broadway's PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, the role he was selected to play in 2004 when PHANTOM became Broadway’s Longest-Running Show.  He returned to the role in 2012 for PHANTOM's 25th Anniversary.

Prior to that, he was Dick Latessa's understudy inThe Lyons. He was seen in the failed Off-Broadway revival of Dracula, following a run in the rather more successful revival of Flamingo Court at New World Stages.  He starred as Alfred P. Doolittle in the acclaimed U.S. national touring production of the London revival of My Fair Lady, for which he received the Carbonell Award and a Helen Hayes Award nomination. 

On Broadway, prior to his run in Phantom of the Opera, he played Jane’s father, Professor Porter, in Disney’s Tarzan, and Belle’s father, Maurice, in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.  He performed leading roles in the original Broadway casts of Grand Hotel, The Moony Shapiro Songbook, Arthur Miller's Creation of the World and Other Business, The Rothschilds, and was nominated for the 1987 Drama Desk and Tony Awards for his performance as The Family Solicitor in Me and My Girl.

He was featured in Baz Luhrmann’s production of La Boheme in the roles of Alcindoro and Benoit, elevated to those roles having started off in the ensemble playing Lovermore - the role pictured here:

That’s Tim on the left

Also on Broadway, Tim performed leading roles in Cats, The Magic Show, Lost in Yonkers, and (the original) Man of La Mancha.  He participated in the pre-Broadway development of Ragtime, The Red Shoes, The Baker’s Wife, Assassins, and a host of readings, workshops and showcase presentations of well-known and unknown works of contemporary theatre.

Regionally, Tim appeared at the North Shore Music Theatre (Beverly, MA), Goodspeed Musicals (Chester, CT), the George Street Playhouse (New Brunswick, NJ), Phoenix Theatre (Purchase, NY), The McCarter Theatre (Princeton, NJ) and was a member of the Arena Stage (Washington, D.C.) acting company originating roles in Tom Lehrer’s Tomfoolery, Tintypes, A 1940s Radio Hour and David Hare’s Plenty.

Tim’s film credits include: Streets of New York, Thirteen Days, (Tim Robbins’s) Cradle will Rock, (Woody Allen’s) Husbands and Wives, Everyone Says I Love You, Celebrity and Deconstructing Harry, A Price Above Rubies, Compromising Positions, (Costa-Gavras’) Betrayed, Billy Bathgate, Spiderman 2, and the indy film The Third Testament.

On television, Tim has had featured roles in Law and Order, Third Watch and others. He also has had a long career in radio and audio as an actor, director and producer starring in over a dozen episodes of Joe Frank’s award-winning radio satire series.  In the 1970s, he co-produced the long-running WBAI-Pacifica drama series The Radio, and has appeared on SciFi.com’s Seeing Ear Theatre presentations and in several audio dramas for WNYC’s The Next Big Thing.  He has won Earphone and Audie Awards for his recorded books.

In 2008, Tim received a Special Award from the New England Theatre Conference for Outstanding Achievement in the American Theatre.

In 2010, he founded MainStreet Musicals, Inc, which utilizes professional script evaluation, industry competitions, and local & campus-based concert-readings to promote development opportunities for new musicals throughout regional America.  MainStreet is a non-profit, tax-exempt (501-c-3) organization.  Prior to that, in 1984, he founded National Music Theater Network, Inc. and designed its core programs. NMTN launched several successful programs featuring new works, notably The Songbook Series (monthly at the Donnell Library for 17 years); BroadwayUSA! (1998-2004: the prototype of MainStreet Musicals), and the annual New York Musical Theatre Festival (launched in 2004, winner of the 2004 Jujamcyn Award).

A fervent unionist, Tim is a proud member of four performer unions. He has served as a Councilor of Actors Equity Association, as a Board Member of Screen Actors Guild (now SAG-AFTRA), and as 1st Vice President of The American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA). He attended Cornell University, Ithaca College (BFA) and Manhattan School of Music (Master of Music).”

1964 - Ellen Solow Holzman - “All this talk of rock and roll reminded me of an event sometime in the sixties—probably in 62, 63, or 64. A rock group came to Wheatley and performed in the gym. I went with a couple of friends. Since in those years it was de rigueur to scream and rush the stage, the crowd did just that. In the process, I was pushed into the edge of the stage and hurt my arm. My parents, I remembered, were out with friends at a restaurant, so someone called the restaurant for me and they came and took me to an ER. An x-ray seemed to show I had broken my arm, and the young doctor on call put on a cast. However, a later exam revealed it was not broken, and the cast was taken off after I had gathered only a few signatures. Does anyone remember what group it was?

I also remember that Josh White performed at Wheatley two years in a row. The first time, we were all impressed when a guitar string broke and he replaced it while continuing to play. We were less impressed when he performed the exact same trick at the second concert. 

P. S. Nice to see posts from Peter Altschuler and Jeff Orling (both 1965), who were good friends of my family. 

1965 - Jeffrey Orling - Han Dynasty, West 85th Street, Manhattan - 1/11/2023

L-R - Art Engoron (1967) and Jeff Orling (1965)

1966 - Susan Berger Jones - Happily Retired in Bucolic Warren County, NJ

“Dear Art, I confess to being a lurker on the Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter for a number of years, with occasional pangs of obligation to send ‘my autobiography before someone else sends us your obituary.’  The very sad and untimely death of Andrea Levine and the fact that my brother Michael (’72) contacted you shamed me into reporting on my activities since 1966. 

Long story short and working backwards from today: I am happily retired from various industries and living in bucolic Warren County, NJ (Washington Township) in a 55+ active adult golf community (and, yes, I play golf now).  I am also a part-time fitness instructor, teaching Zumba, Senior Aerobic Fitness, Chair Yoga, Chair Exercise, and Aqua Aerobics/Fitness.  I also do Trap-Neuter-Return of feral cats and have 13 indoor pet/companion cats of my own. 

I ended my career at Express Scripts in 2014, where I was Senior Director of Healthcare Analytics. Prior to that, I had worked on healthcare analytics at Medco, and also healthcare and marketing analytics at Sanofi-Aventis and Schering-Plough.  My most worthwhile accomplishments were developing predictive models to identify high-risk asthma cases, and I also led the team that identified how genetic testing can improve outcomes with certain therapies.  The Black Box warning on Plavix (clopidogrel) is the result of my team’s research.  I also collaborated on several published research articles. 

Prior to my healthcare positions, I worked for Dun & Bradstreet and Chase.  At D&B I developed predictive models to identify high risk for business failure and business fraud.  For the business fraud detection model, I pioneered the use of mathematical neural networks and also, at Chase, pioneered the use of neural networks for credit card fraud detection. 

Many of you may remember me for my activities in music, including voice and composition.  I graduated from The Juilliard School in 1971 with a Bachelor of Music in Composition, but I never pursued a musical career after that.  I went right into computer programming (where the demand and financial rewards were).  To further my business career, I earned an MBA from Baruch College in 1981 and a PhD in Economics from CUNY Graduate Center in 1993.  One of my music compositions was used by Twyla Tharp in the early 1970’s for a performance in Central Park.  

Personal Life: First marriage (1971-1980) to Jack Perricone ended in an amicable divorce after 9 years (we still exchange holiday cards); my second marriage (1986-2010) to Paul Garavaglia ended in his death (esophageal cancer); my third marriage (2014-2020) to Roger Jones ended with his passing from complications of diabetes and dementia.  No children. I do keep my relationship with Roger’s children and their families.  I ended up with a history of four surnames (Berger, Perricone, Garavaglia, and Jones).  Advice to young women: keep your birth certificate name as your surname for legal purposes and use your “married” name for social situations if you wish.  If you have property that overlaps marriages, such as a car, house, or a Seiko watch (remember that commercial?), it’s a major hassle to sell anything. 

I am fortunate to remain in very good health and have a good social network of friends and family.  Warm regards,  Susan Berger Jones”

1966 Steve Shakin - “Reading about the Roslyn Country Club brings back many memories. My family moved to Roslyn Heights (the S Section) in 1952, and we were always members of the RCC. I spent many an afternoon lying on a towel on the hard concrete behind the locker rooms. I remember the food concession, run by a man with an accent named “Sam.” The club was owned by a Mr. Hermanson. We used to sneak in at night to swim, and we were often chased by his big Great Dane, named “Diablo.” We played a lot of tennis and handball. I actually got married there in 1973. Still married.  the RCC was a great place.

1967 - Patricia Thurston Colgan - Deceased

Wildcat Survivors are Jeanette 1970, Vincent 1973, Donna 1979, Michael 1979, and Nancy 1983

1968 (Lois Hegyi Goldstein) - Another ‘S Section’ Denizen.

Writes Lois - “Hi Art, I want to remind Diana Noble (1966) that she left out the Hegyi and Jacoby families on Shepherd Lane. Your house was just down the block from us. The Jacoby house was right across the street from the playground. I also have many fond memories of the RCC. Even though I went to sleep-away camp, I still enjoyed my time at “the club.” My sister met her husband there. He was an RCC lifeguard during the summer of ‘64. They are still together. Married 53 years.”

1968 - Sheli Nan Hershcopf - Concert Flyers and Musical Career

Writes Shelley - I had many musical experiences at Wheatley. Steven Saletan and I were the “pianists” chosen for all events. I played the organ at assemblies. I wrote a musical and performed it solo at Mr. Seiderman’s philosophy class. When the Blues Project played at the 1967 prom, after dancing up a storm I went and hung out with the band. When Dave Van Ronk came and played for us I was in heaven, never realizing that “Candyman’ was a song about heroin. My boyfriend and I went to many of Murray the K’s shows in the city, and there was a rumor that he lived in our neighborhood. My piano teacher, Vivian Rivkin, came out to teach me from Juilliard. My life was full on music and continues to be.”

https://www.youtube.com/user/SheliNan

Composer Performer Teacher Author 

Shelinan.muse@gmail.com. www.SheliNan.com

1969 - Homer Smith - Deceased (Still no details available at press time.)

1970 - Mitch Shapiro - Funny Man

Writes Mitch - “Below is a link to my last Stand Up opportunity back in October, when I flew in from New Orleans just to do this….. I’m part of a documentary being edited now called “By Day, By Night,” working to make people laugh…I am one of 5 comedians” 

1973 - Lisa Buxbaum Rouff - “I hope that the following might be worthy of inclusion in a future Wheatley Alumni Newsletter, even if it can't compete with Murray the K……

For all the space fanatics in the Wheatley World, we had a role in the recent Artemis mission and other launch vehicle activities. 

Prior to my retirement from Lockheed Martin, Denver, in 2016, I spent 10 years on the Orion program. I retired as the Systems Engineering Manager for the Avionics, Power, and Wiring System. That meant that the team I led wrote the requirements, evaluated the designs, and signed off on testing of all the equipment that contained electronics for the Crew Module. In addition, I was a primary evaluator and integrator for the avionics and software within the European Service Module. Watching the  Space Launch System (SLS) and Interim Cryogenic Propulsion System (ICPS) do their jobs to get Orion into the right path for lunar orbit, and then for Orion to perform its functions, was fantastic! What a great launch and splashdown - a huge accomplishment for NASA and the country.  

Here's a good video of highlights from the mission: NASA highlights Artemis 1 from launch to splashdown

Watching launches in person is also a special event. On a Disney vacation 29 years ago, we were able to see the final launch of an Atlas II from Jetty Park, Florida, with our then 4 and 6 year old daughters. They both remember the 1:50 am event. At that time I didn't know that my career would take me to being the Software Integration Leader for the first Atlas V, responsible for ensuring the flight, ground, and facility software was specified, developed, and tested properly. 

My husband and I traveled to Cape Canaveral for the first Orion test  flight (EFT-1), and we enjoyed that launch from the causeway at the Cape. 

The Wheatley School contributed to my love of Mathematics, which was my major at the University of PA.  That was followed by four years at Raytheon in Bedford, MA as a programmer on a ground system for the Army. Then a move to Denver and to Martin Marietta / Lockheed Martin, where I worked on various ground, training, and space systems for customers such as the military and NASA. 

My husband and I, both retired, enjoy time with our family, grandson included; travel; and more that the Denver area has to offer.

1973 - Lauren Karasyk Oakley - With Husband John Oakley (1973) and Carol Leifer (1974)

Writes Lauren - “I booked Carol Leifer (comedian extraordinaire (1974)) to perform at our Valencia Bonita Clubhouse, in Bonita Springs, Florida. She was absolutely fantastic.

L-R - John Oakley (1973), Carol Leifer (1974), Lauren Karasyk Oakley (1973), Jeff Karasyk (1975)

L-R - John and Lauren Karasyk Oakley with Carol Leifer at Molto (“plenty of”) Italian restaurant in Naples, FL

Writes Carol Leifer (1974) - “So nice to catch up with my high school buds, Lauren (Karasyk) and John Oakley, here in Naples FL.😊 Now this is a really great love story - both in the same class growing up, then fell in love at the Wheatley School reunion. I know it sounds like a Hallmark Movie but it’s true.❤️❤️❤️

1976 - Ted Lipsky - “I grew up on Locust Lane at the bottom of Saddle Lane right across from the RCC. The fact that the community allowed the Club to deteriorate is another sign of apathy and not putting value on what is truly important – COMMUNITY. I literally grew up at The Country Club, beginning as a baby in the kiddie pool and being taught how to swim by Barry Fox and my mom, who was a fixture at the club playing cards everyday in the corner between the men’s locker room and the bathrooms, always having a clear eye on the pool and where we were. By the time I was 6 I was already competing on the swimming team with Nancy Weissman, and we had meets almost every week at the Village Bath Club, the RCC, the Plandome Yacht Club, and many others, and eventually I improved enough to compete at open meets in Manorhaven, swimming butterfly and freestyle in the long course 50 meter pool.

The RCC was the center of my universe as a young boy learning the proper values of family, community, friendships with people like Robin Firetog, Paul Katz, David Eysler, and way too many others to name, and our RCC family as we were all family there looking out for each other every single day, and having “credit” from the Fox’s at the snack bar so I could eat each day. The RCC was so much more than a pool, a tennis club, a snack bar, the Club House, the paddle ball courts /handball courts, the makeshift basketball court behind the men’s locker room, and climbing the fence by the corner of the paddle ball courts and tennis courts to go down the hill through the woods to avoid walking through the parking lot, which was way too far to walk! Seeing pictures of the club in its present state of disrepair on Google Earth is heartbreaking to me. As Howard Senft (1967) wrote, $100 was a steal. They should have started raising dues back in the early 70s as the community became more affluent, but sadly people were too interested in other meaningless things. I find it amazing that “The Community” has not banded together to create a fund to fully renovate and restore the club to all its glory, but I guess a McMansion and wealth is more important today than family and community. Just another example of how low we have sunk as a society.”

1979 Amy Gould Dinnerman - “Another S Section Family”

1982 - Richard Flach - Remembered by Edward B. (“Woody”) Ryder, 1973 - “How profoundly sad to hear that Richard Flach passed away. My sympathies to his family, particularly my classmate and friend of decades past, Michael Flach, who along with his mother’s friendship with my own mother form a cherished part of the catalog of memories of shared days past.”

1983 - Bernadette McCrave - Still in the Neighborhood

Writes Bernadette - “Hi Art, I currently live in Mineola in  the house I grew up in while attending Wheatley. I have 3 children:  Grace graduated from Wheatley in 2021 and is now a sophomore at SUNY Buffalo; Connor is in the 11th Grade; Casey is in the  9th grade. My older son had Paul Paino as his  baseball coach last year. Mr. Paino taught me science in 9th grade. He retired after 38 years of coaching baseball at Wheatley.

There are many of us Alumni around in Mineola and surrounding areas within the East Williston school district. As just one of many examples, I'm friends with Jonathan Gold  (1970).”

Fan Mail

Faculty (Steve Ehre) - “Art: As always, your hard work is greatly appreciated!”❤️

1959 (Beth Davidson) - “I enjoy the newsletters, and I appreciate your dedication to keeping them coming.”

1960 (Paul Hennessy) - ❤️ - “This 89th edition of the Newsletter had some rather amazing tales, including the fund-raising effort for a hurting alum (Michael Lorenzo, 1969) with a classic alternative path story, and Murray the K's connection to the East Williston School District. Thanks for all you do.”

1963 (Keith Aufhauser) - ❤️

1963 (Linda Samuels) - ❤️

1965 (Louise Kampa Triano) - ❤️

1966 (Susan Berger Jones) - “Thank you for your passion, dedication, and Herculean efforts on behalf of Wheatley Alumni.”

1966 (Peter Siegel) - “Thanks for all the newsletters.”

1969 (Paul Ingrassia) - “Thanks for your updates on our old friends and memories.”

1969 (Susan Shapiro) - ❤️ - “The newsletters have been quite lively the last few issues.  Fun to read!”

1970 (Jonathan Gold) - ❤️ - “The Newsletters are special. I enjoy all of them.”

1972 (Jeffrey Kargman) - ❤️

1972 (Lillian Marazzo Anderson) - ❤️

1972 (Francine Mittelmark Granet) - ❤️

1973 (Lisa Buxbaum Rouff) - “I've enjoyed reading the Wheatley Newsletters and appreciate your efforts to make that happen.”

1973 (Lauren Karasyk Oakley) - “I appreciate your hard work.”

1973 (Michael Kramer) - “I enjoy the glimpses into everyone's memories and experiences illustrated in the newsletter.”

1973 (Charlie Nash) - “Art, Please keep the news coming.”

1973 (James Pangarliotas) - ❤️

1973 (Mindy Silverstein Levy) - ❤️

1974 (Joyce Comito Friedman) - ❤️

1974 (Robert Gordon Kalb) - “Greetings and thanks for all your efforts on behalf of the Wheatley School Community.”

1976 (Robin Hegyi Sisskind) - ❤️

1976 (Ted Lipsky) - “Thank you for sending these newsletters out! They make my day.”

1976 (Michelle Mitchell) - ❤️

1981 (Raul “Ralph” Fernandez) - “I enjoy receiving and reading your Newsletters because I still cherish my time at Wheatley and the friends I made there.”

1983 (Bernadette McCrave Quinn) - “The Newsletter is great.”

1999 (Beth Caporaso) - ❤️

Closing

That’s it for The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 89.  Please send us your autobiography before someone else sends us your obituary.

Art

Arthur Fredericks Engoron, Class of 1967

WHEATLEYALUMNI@AOL.COM

ARTENGORON@GMAIL.COM

WWW.WHEATLEYALUMNI.ORG

646-872-4833