expression fall 2008

FA L L 2 0 0 8 T H E M A G A Z I N E F O R A L U M N I A N D F R I E N D S O F E M E R S O N C O L L E G E

Where is

Emerson?

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over

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Fall showersDuring a study break, Emerson students shower each other in fall foliage on Boston Common. Students enjoy the seasonal color just outside their residence halls.

2 Expression Fall 2008

Campus Digest

For the first time in the College’s history, the Emerson College annual giving program – the Emerson Fund – surpassed the $1 million mark in fiscal 2008. The support came from 4,300 alumni, parents, faculty, staff and friends of the College who made gift commitments

Emerson Fund surpasses $1 million mark

totaling $1,006,649 from July 1, 2007, to June 30, 2008, according to Vice President for Institutional Advancement Robert Ashton. The total represents a 31% increase over the previous year and an increase of nearly 100% over the fiscal 2006 total, Ashton said.

President Jacqueline

income,” said Liebergott.“Passing the million-

dollar mark after years of results hovering around $500,000 is a historic achievement for Emerson,” she added. “It reflects the increased visibility and stature of Emerson and tells us that people feel good about their college. This

The chart above details the Emerson Fund’s growth over the past nine years.

Annual Giving Charted Over Nine Years

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

$481,858

$548,220

$458,848 $453,562

$502,580

$454,165

$503,700

$765,721

$1,006,249

fund-raising campaign is volunteer leadership,” Zacharis said. “Extraordinary results reflect extraordinary leadership, and that’s exactly what we’ve had. We are indebted to many alumni, parents, students and others who made the phone calls and wrote the letters that helped put us over the top.”

Adding to the success this year and helping to raise the bar to the million-dollar mark was Parent Partners, a volunteer committee of the Parents Leadership Council (PLC), which helped to raise $78,000 through a calling campaign in support of the PLC Scholarship Program. The Program provides much-needed current-use financial support for students who are leaders in their respective fields.

“Each year, alumni who are celebrating milestone reunions have a special opportunity to work together and make a significant impact on the Emerson Fund through their Reunion Class Gift to the College,” said Robert Friend ’79, president of the College’s Alumni Association. “For instance, last year the Class of 1968 broke all previous reunion giving records by raising more than $115,000 through their Reunion Class Gift. This united approach in support of our Emerson Fund is a great way to get people reconnected to the College, bring context to the act of giving, and, in the process, have fun celebrating and honoring our legacy with the College.”

Liebergott thanked those who contributed and praised the work of the Advancement Office and the Emerson Fund staff.

“Gifts to the Emerson Fund provide crucial support for teaching and faculty development and for scholarships that help enable us to recruit and retain the very best students, regardless of their family

bodes well for our future.”Marillyn Zacharis,

secretary of the Board of Trustees and chair of its Institutional Advancement Committee, praised the work of the many volunteers

– alumni, parents, students and others, as well as the professional staff – who helped make this year’s campaign a success.

“The driving force behind every successful


Award-winning architects tapped for Los Angeles Center

The College has selected world-famous Morphosis architects of Los Angeles to design a permanent home for its 20-year-old Los Angeles Program. The multi-purpose, academic and residential Los Angeles Center will be built on a vacant, 37,244-sq.-ft. lot at Sunset Boulevard and Gordon Street in Hollywood that the College purchased in March. It will replace rented facilities in Burbank.

Emerson President Jacqueline Liebergott said Morphosis was the unanimous choice of a selection committee comprising Emerson trustees and senior administrators.

“Morphosis has sub-stantial experience designing college and university facili-ties and an impressive track record of accomplishment in creating a diverse array of signature buildings through-out the country and around the world,” Liebergott said.

“We look forward to a colle-gial and creative design pro-cess and to creating a facility that will meet the needs of our students and faculty in Los Angeles and reflect the strong presence of Emerson alumni in the entertainment and media industries on the West Coast.”

Nationally known orator, author and inspirational speaker the Rev. Suzan D. Johnson Cook ’76, of New York City, has been elected to the Emerson Board of Trustees. Johnson Cook is senior pastor at the

New trustee elected to board

Bronx Christian Fellowship, also known as Believers’ Christian Fellowship, which she founded in 1996 after serving as pastor at the Mariners’ Temple Baptist Church in downtown Manhattan for 13 years and growing the membership exponentially. The New York Times calls Johnson Cook “Billy Graham and Oprah rolled into one.” She is known as the “Wall Street Pastor” and regularly conducts and facilitates corporate ministry. She served as the co-officiant for the Homegoing Service of Civil Rights leader Coretta Scott King. A spiritual leader with many ‘firsts’ to her credit, she recently formed the Women in Ministry International Summit, which supports and advocates for

women church leaders from around the world. She is also the pastoral counselor and inspirational life coach for a number of celebrities and political leaders.

Johnson Cook is also the author of nine books, including Too Blessed to Be Stressed and her latest, Moving Up: Dr. Sujay’s Ten steps to turning your life around and getting to the top (Doubleday).

In addition, former trustee Larry Rasky ’78 rejoined the Board after a short hiatus during which he served as director of communication for Sen. Joe Biden’s presidential campaign. Rasky is chairman and chief executive officer of Rasky Baerlein Strategic Communications in Boston.

The College’s Iwasaki Library is the site where the set from the hit NBC comedy Will & Grace has been installed. Donated to the College by alumnus and the show’s executive producer Max Mutchnick ’87, the set is housed in a glass-paneled exhibition space.

“Will & Grace” setfinds home at Emerson

Art curator Ketner named to Foster chair

Joseph D. Ketner II

Oscar-nominated writer/director will be first Semel chair in screenwriting

Screenwriter/director Richard LaGravenese

Academy Award-nominated writer/director Richard LaGravenese has been selected to be the first recipient of Emerson’s Jane and Terry Semel Chair in Screenwriting in the Department of Visual and Media Arts. LaGravenese began teaching master classes in screenwriting at Emerson this fall, focusing on the importance of plot structure, character construction, writing on deadline, rewriting and other issues.

LaGravenese attended Emerson as an undergraduate in performing arts, before transferring to New York University’s Experimental Theatre Wing. In 1992, he received an Oscar nomination for his original screenplay, The Fisher King. Other screenplays he has penned include The Ref (with Emerson classmate Denis Leary ’79), The Bridges of Madison County, The Horse Whisperer and Beloved. His documentary on filmmaking in the 1970s, A Decade Under the Influence, co-directed with Ted Demme,

New editor takes reins at Ploughshares

Highly regarded fiction writer and longtime editor Ladette Randolph has been selected to become the new director/editor-in-chief of the influential Emerson-based literary journal Ploughshares. Randolph landed the coveted position because of her years of successful editing and publishing and her administrative experience, said Emerson Professor DeWitt Henry, founder of the journal who served as interim director for the past year.

Randolph is the author or editor of several books, including the 2006 Nebraska Book Award winner This Is Not the Tropics. Her positions in editing and publishing include three years as managing editor of the esteemed literary journal Prairie Schooner and several roles at the University of Nebraska Press, where she climbed the ranks from humanities editor to director. It was in that position that she initiated the American Lives series (general editor Tobias Wolff) and the Flyover Fiction series (general editor Ron Hansen). among others. Randolph also holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Nebraska and has had college-level teaching experience.

4 Expression Spring 2008

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The M.F.A. program in media art was approved recently by the College’s Board of Trustees, the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education and the Massachusetts Secretary of State. It will be offered through the Department of Visual and Media Arts (VMA) in the School of the Arts and is expected to enroll 30 full-time students in its first semester and approximately 85-90 students when fully enrolled, according to VMA Interim Chair Eric Schaefer.

M.F.A. program in media art launched

“The development of an M.F.A. will further advance Emerson’s reputation as a premier media arts program,” said Dean of the School of the Arts Grafton Nunes. “The addition of this degree will help us prepare students for careers in the film and television industries, along with enabling graduates to pursue faculty positions at other colleges,” said Nunes.

Graduate Program Director Jan Roberts-Breslin

Joseph D. Ketner II, former chief curator of the Milwaukee Art Museum, is the College’s first Henry and Lois Foster Chair in Contem-porary Art Theory and Prac-tice. Ketner, a specialist in modern and contemporary art, served as the museum’s artistic head since 2005. The Emerson position is an endowed chair and profes-sorship of contemporary art.

Prior to working in Milwaukee, Ketner served as director of the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis Uni-

versity and the Washington University Gallery of Art in St. Louis

Lois Foster, a member of the Emerson College Class of 1949 and recipient of an honorary degree from the College, is a leading collector and patron of contemporary art. She and her husband, Henry, are ac-tive at the Museum of Fine Arts, the Art Institute of Boston and several Boston-area colleges and medical institutions.

Maria Menounos ’00 (center), an entertainment reporter for Access Hollywood and The Today Show, was reunited with two of her faculty mentors – Boston television legend and longtime adjunct faculty member Rex Trailer (left), host of the popular WBZ-TV children’s show Boomtown from 1956 to 1974, and Pete Chvany, the College’s post-production manager and longtime faculty advisor to the EVVY Awards. She returned to campus to receive a Young Alumni Achievement Award while she was in town with a crew from Access Hollywood, which is producing a biography of Menounos.

TV reporter alumna visitsfaculty mentors

states that the program “empowers students to develop their creative voice, working with image and sound to entertain, inform, persuade and challenge. It offers a truly integrated approach in an increasingly convergent media environment, utilizing state-of-the-art equipment and facilities.”

The M.F.A. is the accepted terminal degree in the fine arts disciplines, including media production. The current M.A. degree will be phased out.

was nominated for an Emmy in the Best Documentary category in 2004 and won the William K. Everson Film History Award from the National Board of Review. In 2007, LaGravenese wrote and directed two films: Freedom Writers, starring Hilary Swank, which won the prestigious Humanitas Award for screenwriting, and the international box office hit P.S. I Love You.

The endowed chair was made possible by a $2 million gift from Jane and Terry Semel.

Emerson

students

traveled

to

China

to

cover

the

Summer

Olympics

Getting acclimatedI wake up to stagnant air so thick with smog there doesn’t seem to be a sun in the sky. Still, as I head to the subway, I feel my skin cooking as if some practical joker replaced the sun with a giant heat lamp. Looking east and west, it’s impossible to know if there’s any civilization just a few blocks either way or if the world has ceased to exist past these hazy city streets. About five weeks ago, I was still in America preparing for a stint as a volunteer for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Though honored and grateful for the opportu-nity to be a part of the Games, I was equally intimidated by the fact that I would be traveling across the globe. Before arriving in Beijing, I worried that nobody would understand me since I didn’t speak the language, that such a large foreign city would be impossible to navigate, and, worst of all, that as a vegetarian, I might starve.

So, I listened to CDs to help me learn the language. I bought every map of Beijing I could find and highlighted points of interest, subway lines and hospitals. I stocked up on vitamins, health food bars and peanut butter, just in case I couldn’t find anything to eat. I read up on nearly 2,000 years of China’s history and every traveler’s journal I could find to help put modern China in context with ancient China. Now, five weeks after my plane first touched down at Beijing Capital International Airport, I realize I had been worried for no reason: China and America are only geographically worlds away.

When I speak my very basic Mandarin, the Chinese smile as they try to understand my butchered words. They swear to me that my Chinese is very good, and I know they’re just being polite. What’s amazing to me, though, is not how patient they are when I try to speak their language, but how great they are at speaking English. They tell me their English isn’t very good, but it’s simply not true.

Everyone knows that swimmer

Michael Phelps won a record-smashing eight gold medals at the Summer Olympics 2008 in Beijing, but how many realize that 33 Emerson students and recent graduates worked as reporters and media liaisons at the Olympics? The students, accompanied by Assistant Professor Paul Niwa and interim Journalism Department Chair Janet Kolodzy, arrived in China in early July to prepare to work side-by-side with professional staff to cover events, provide background information to the media on athletes and competitions, coordinate and facilitate international media coverage, and create materials for the international press.

Emerson was just one of six U.S. colleges invited to participate in the Olympic News Service (ONS) program. The students prepared for their assignment by taking a course titled International Sports Reporting, taught by two Emerson faculty, Niwa and Associate Professor of Media Arts Shujen Wang.

The Emersonians selected to go to Beijing were known as Knight Scholars, in recognition of a gift to cover travel expenses from Norman Knight. The students and faculty were hosted by Communication University of China.

A website called EmersonInBei-jing.com was created by the group while in China as a forum to post their everyday observations of life in another, fascinating culture. Their topics include: getting around by public transit, local nightlife, everyday fashion, and even what it’s like to get a haircut in Beijing. The following are excerpts from the students’ posts:


Edited by Rhea Becker

China, banners are posted on every building, flowers are being trucked in from the outer provinces to decorate the historical sites, new venues are still having finishing touches put on and excitement is bursting from within every heart. It is amazing to be in the midst of this great cultural melting pot in a city with such a colorful past. Trisha Cowen ’08

The warmth of the back alleysHutongs are the narrow, winding alleys that spiderweb across Beijing. They are the traditional neighborhoods of often-ancient stone houses, clay-tile roofs and shared bathrooms. If Beijing’s six circular highways (ring roads) are the arteries of the New City, then the hutongs are the network of capillaries that have given life to the capital for centuries. They’re every-where, crisscrossing main streets – of-ten at 90-degree angles, without warning. But at the same time, they’re easy to overlook, for this is where the city’s underclass lives. Mostly, though, stepping into a hutong is stepping into a way of life for millions of Chinese.

It is a step, I think, that many tourists don’t take. Entering a hutong means you’re leaving behind all of the comforts you’re used to. There aren’t any English menus in the restaurants and very few have pictures. You’ll be dodging delivery people and garbage collectors on bicycles and have to endure the occasional interested stare as one of the locals watches you, perhaps wondering if you’re lost. There are almost always children playing in the streets, whether it’s kicking a ball or running around playing tag or some other chase game. Many will skid to a halt after spotting me, sidle up and whisper a nervous “Nihao.” I’ll respond with the same and a smile, and their faces never fail to light up as the foreigner tries to speak their language.

One day, I stumbled into Yang Guanjun’s art shop, attracted by the watercolors and the English “ART” sign on the front door. I found the owner to be a delightful dude, with enough knowledge of English for us to stumble through a conversation. Yang is from

X’ian in central China, and he studied art at the university there. There wasn’t enough work for him in his hometown, so he brought his wife and young daughter to Beijing 10 years ago to open an art studio and tea house. Business has been okay, but it’s hard for the tourists with money to find him, as his home/studio is a few blocks from the main road, down a narrow hutong with no signs and no other shops. He gladly showed me his wares before inviting me upstairs to see the living space he’s trying to rent out for the Olympics (a pair of twin rooms, a brand-new shower he was infinitely proud of and Internet access provided on ancient PCs). I spent 30 minutes chatting, sampling the tea he had on sale and talking about the coming Summer Games before I departed, two original paintings under my arm. None of that would have happened had I not gotten lost, wandering alone through a hutong. Mike Nagel, MFA ’08

Children’s fashion The real sight to behold in Beijing is the clothes that children wear. At home, I used to delight in the days when my mother would let me dress myself (a.k.a. pretend to let me pick my own clothes and then redress me before letting me out in public). I would get a thrill out of throwing away my Garanimal rules, put Lions with Hippos, stripes with flowers and create my own look. Here, that seems to be the way the kids look every day. Katrina McIsaac ’08

Menus lost in translationOne restaurant we went to had a menu full of English translations. The translations aren’t just a list of ingredi-ents. The first reads, “The applause makes a sound.” The others read,

“Smells as sweet the gluttouous [sic] frog,” “The grandmother entertains the vegetable,” and “Soybean peanut hot pot pig’s frout totters.” I wasn’t any

The biggest difference between China and America is a welcome one: hospitality. While native New Yorkers and Los Angelenos tend to look down on foreigners as pests and annoyances, Beijingers have been nothing but welcoming and gracious to me. Though I don’t know the language, the city or the food very well, I’ve rarely felt like a hungry, lost, foreign pest.Mikala Reasbeck ’08

The city prepares China is ecstatic to be hosting the Olympic Games, which will begin on 08-08-08. It is important to note that the number 8 is a very lucky number in China, so if you don’t have the number 8 in your own telephone number it will be hard to find friends. Throughout

Many of the photos on these pages were shot by Emersonians during their stay in Beijing.


closer to knowing whether I was eating chicken or frog. Instead, I took each phrase as its own meditation on life. I just pictured a grandmother trying to communicate with a vegetable, and I was content.Jessica Wallner ’08

Biking heavenIn a city of 17 million people, not everyone can drive or even take the subway. Beijing has found a balance of transportation options aimed to get everyone where they need to go. There are bike lanes in Beijing that are wider than some highways in the U.S. Biking is so safe in Beijing that parents feel comfortable placing small children on the back of their bikes, and friends ride tandem with one person sitting sideways on the back. I have even seen four people on one bicycle. It’s amaz-ing. People bike with high heels and while holding umbrellas. It’s not a big deal. Laura McLam, graduate student

The lengthy haircutI walked into the shop around 2:15 p.m. and a woman, the haircutter’s assistant, Li Wen, introduced herself and asked what style I wanted. I replied, “Please just stay within the lines. I just want a trim.” She nodded and took me to a back room to wash my hair. She asked if I wanted the 40 or 60 yuan haircut. I figured I better not cheap out on my hair and went with the 60 yuan, or 10 USD, haircut, which is about half of what I pay in the States. My haircutter’s name was Lu Yu, and he spoke as much English as I do Mandarin, which isn’t very much. Li Wen was there by my side to make sure she could translate. Lu Yu received the instruc-tions from Li Wen, took out his scissors and started snipping away. Lu Yu continued shaping and making sure both sides of my head were even. He touched up the area by my ears at least 25 times before moving on to the top of my head, some 45 minutes later. Lu Yu finally reached the top part of my head. I figured this portion of the haircut would go by in a flash. How wrong I was. After another 45 minutes, my hair

The venues for sports competitions at the Beijing Olympics were many and varied.


was considerably shorter. Then he tried blow drying my hair. Before Lu Yu could do any more touch-ups, I jumped out of the chair and went straight to the cash register. I paid and tried leaving a tip since they were so helpful. They refused and said, “You are our Ameri-can friend.” Justin DeMarco ’08

Office work“Resting” is a pivotal component to the Chinese workday. After lunch was served each day, it was standard that one take a nap. In fact, my Chinese colleagues expressed their sincere worries that I was exhausting myself because I did not take part in this daily ritual. I tried explaining that such an activity would leave me unemployed in the States, but they simply could not understand why one wouldn’t rest periodically throughout the workday. Seth Adam ’08


“When the fireworks show reached its crescendo, the Chinese people in the streets were leaping, pumping their fists into the air and screaming with joy.”

Traffic terrorsOn a normal day in Beijing, since the majority of Chinese drivers are new to the sport, there are many collisions. Accidents are treated differently in China than in America. If an accident occurs, the person in the wrong gets out his wallet and pays the other driver and then they are off. No time is wasted. Brave bikers take up the traffic lane farthest to the right. They ride centimeters from taxi drivers with road rage. Personal space does not exist in China, whether it be on the brand-new subways or on the road. Road space rationing began in Beijing on Monday, July 21. Only even-numbered license plates can be on the road one day, and the next, odd plates. Trisha Cowen ’09

Fireworks and good cheerWe stood just down the street from the Bird’s Nest and watched a fireworks display that put the best 4th of July shows to shame. Random people asked me to be in pictures or videos with them as they captured the moment (this stopped feeling weird to me weeks ago—they love taking pictures with, and of, Americans here). When the fireworks show reached its crescendo, the Chinese people in the streets were leaping, pumping their fists into the air and screaming with joy. Bruce Lerch, graduate student

Dress rehearsal Two full weeks before the opening ceremonies, I worked my first overnight shift at the photo helpdesk in the basement of the Main Press Center (MPC). Crews were still putting finishing touches on the building’s interior – still hanging signs, still checking electric sockets and Internet docks. The MPC would not open for another 10 days; most photographers wouldn’t show up for another 12. But this was our part in the pre-Olympic run-throughs, and supposedly all of the volunteers in the other venues were going through the same two-week dress rehearsal. It was China’s way of ensuring that once the Olympics started, everything went as planned.

Because the photo workroom would be open 24 hours for the duration of the Games, it had to be open 24 hours two weeks prior as well. Of course, an overnight shift behind the help desk in a closed facility made no sense to me, but, as I was beginning to see, in China sometimes things went this way.I worked the shift with three other volunteers – the same three with whom I would share my shifts until the closing ceremonies. To make it easy on me, they had each adopted English names. Lisa’s English name was a close approximation of her Chinese name, Li Sha. Sherry got hers from a male friend who named her after the sometimes sweet, sometimes dry variety of wine. Marc Velasquez, graduate student

Americans abroadIt is a constant challenge to blend in while in China. Based on the simple science of genetics, there is nothing at all that can be done to change the fact that we already appear as if we don’t belong. As soon as we begin to speak in broken, misunderstood Mandarin in all the wrong tones, it becomes obvious to everyone that we have absolutely no idea what’s going on. And in most cases, I am overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of the rotating faces. Sylvie Packard ’08

Becoming a leaderHere I am thinking I’m going to be just another face in the crowd, one of thousands upon thousands of volun-teers from across the world. There are approximately 1,500 volunteers at Capital Indoor Stadium. I did not expect to have a leadership position in my department and among my colleagues. I could not have been more wrong.

Adrienne and I are the only two Americans at this location. Only a few days into training, our supervisor and the Chinese students we’re working with began asking for our input and advice on several topics. At first we were shy, unsure of our role and too

nervous to instruct others on how a press operation should be run. I kept thinking to myself, “Am I really qualified to be handing out directions in an Olympic media operations department?” Then I discovered the truth. Huang and the volunteers had no experience working with or in media. They also have never personally seen a sporting event live. They have no idea what to expect from the spectators, the journalists and each other. Last summer, I worked as a media relations intern for a professional basketball team. When I mentioned this to my supervisor she unofficially expanded my role in the department. Now my supervisor was asking me detailed questions about the journalists, rules and regulations. She actually needed my input. The response we’ve gotten thus far from our co-workers has been extremely positive. Cathryn McDonough ’09 E

TOP: Emerson’s Knight Scholars, in Beijing



An essay by Emerson faculty member and Ploughshares founding editor DeWitt Henry

Excerpted froman essay called “On Aging”

back to my house was 25 miles. I trained and trained, the longer runs taking me three hours. My friend told me that the adrenaline of the event, of the crowds, and of the other runners in the marathon would carry me the 26.2-mile distance even if in my longest run before the race I had reached only 18 miles.

I’m not a natural athlete and certainly not a gifted runner. The goal here wasn’t competition. I took as gospel the sentences from Galloway’s Book of Running: “In your first mara-thon, don’t worry about time. Just run to finish. Staying on your feet for 26 miles is a feat in itself.” On my long training runs, I would sometimes hit my wall five miles from home, falter to a painful walk, call and ask to be

Ru

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The thrills

and chills

of training for the

Boston Marathon

after age 50

Between the ages of 51 and 57, I struggled to run the Boston Marathon each year.

I was encouraged the first time by a younger colleague who had finished it the year before and told me it was an unforgettable experience. I had been running only five-, then 10-mile loops around the Charles River bike path, but I started training day by day, week by week, and discovered that I could go farther and longer. From my home in Watertown, the river as it meanders into Boston is punctuated by a series of bridges. The Harvard bridge marked a 12-mile loop. The B.U. bridge marked a 16, the M.I.T. bridge an 18, and all the way around the Science Museum and

pistol and the crowd’s cheer, they were off downhill for their early start. Runners started peeling off whatever disposable layers they had been wearing, trash bags, extra shirts, old jackets, and tossed them to the side. The officials announced 10 minutes to the runners’ start, then five. A TV news helicopter hovered loudly overhead. A fellow runner and acquaintance, Ray, pressed close to the barrier. “Come on,” he told me. “When they start, you just climb over and jump in. Just do what I do.”

Suddenly the loudspeaker barked, “They’re off!” Like water through a broken dam, the elite runners spilled. I couldn’t see them. Just the shuffle in front of me, as the press of bodies pushed forward, quickening. There

was a mounting cheer from the runners themselves, hats tossed. Ray heaved his ass up on the barrier, swung over one leg, then the other, jumped down. “Good luck! Come on!” he yelled. I did the same, though immediately I lost sight of Ray. I jogged and bobbed, working my way in, keeping pace behind, alongside, and in front of others, all those arms swing-ing, all those running shoes drum-ming. I was in a living river and as far ahead as I could see, bobbing heads, colors, human motion flowed. Racers filled the road across, from side to side, and all the way ahead, already rising at a distant crest, and again at the crest

Ru

nn

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The thrills

and chills

of training for the

Boston Marathon

after age 50

picked up; or once, I actually had to take a bus. I was sweaty and given berth by the other passengers.

The day was chill and overcast, perhaps 45 degrees at late morning. Over the crowd from an elevated, sheltered platform, officials told us the clouds would clear off and that we would have a tailwind. A high school band was playing. Johnny Kelley, the elderly patron saint of the Boston Marathon, made an appearance to cheers and applause and sang his song, “Young at Heart.” The wheelchair entrants lined up and, with a shot of the starter’s



“There is the lesson of self-awareness and acceptance, beyond unrealistic ambition. You need to settle within your capacity and perform there as well as you are given to perform, this time.”

beyond that. The pack began to loosen, picking up from a jog to a full running pace, some runners in my way, so I had to veer and weave to pass them, but mostly others jockeying to pass me, hundreds it seemed. Before long, I settled into my run. After three or four miles, there seemed to be about 25 runners at my pace, sometimes ahead, sometimes falling back. We were a constant. Others still might pass us, and we might overtake slower runners. There were bodies of every type, every age. Tall and short, overweight and lanky, men and women, college kids, roommate girls, midlife Moms, a number of people wearing Dana-Far-ber Cancer Institute T-shirts, some paunchy Boston policemen, a scatter-ing of white-haired seniors. Some runners were in pairs or in groups, supporting each other. There was causal chatter. There was even an element of clowns, as if running the race were no chore.

I had no idea that there were five serious hills. The first was just after mile 12 up past Wellesley College, where a gauntlet of students loudly cheered everyone, even us, even me. Then Route 16 through Wellesley, past stretches of parks and suburban blocks, a flat two miles, until a surprise downhill into Newton Lower Falls and then the second hill (was this Heart-break, I wondered?), a steep, ¾-mile grade that crested over Route 128 at the Wellesley Hospital. By this point runners were straggling. Instead of the inspiration of collective possibility, there was now the breaking of ranks, admissions of defeat, which were demoralizing. Footsore and cramping, clammy with sweat, mouth pasty from jellybeans and Gatorade, I continued down to the turn at the Newton firehouse onto Commonwealth Avenue and was stunned to see a third steep hill, which I managed to climb,

concentrating on my feet and passing scores of walkers, but after the downgrade, faced with a fourth hill at mile 18, I faltered to a walk, just to catch my breath, then ran, then walked, and cleared that crest, ran painfully downhill again past Newton City Hall, then had to struggle the mile up Heartbreak Hill, while others ran past me.

When I was halfway up, I was overtaken by a man not only running, but running while pushing his grown, paraplegic son ahead of him in a special wheelchair – these were the legendary Hoights, I would later learn, who had been running the marathon for years. Bystanders exhorted me, along with the multitude of other walkers: “Keep running. C’mon, you can run. Don’t walk! It’s the last hill. You are almost over the top. It’s all downhill from here.” I mustered a stag-ger run for 10 yards, then faltered. The uphill felt so steep that I could reach forward and touch the ground rising ahead of me. At the top, I started to run again, letting gravity pull me. I would finish this way, I reasoned; walk-ing up the hills, running down. Boston College fraternity kids were swilling beer on the sidelines and yelling. Rock music blasted from their open win-dows. There were more and more stretches of walking, but never without running, too. A long stretch from Boston College to Cleveland Circle, and then the turn on Beacon Street, and more sudden rises, mile 23, and coming into Kenmore Square, mile 25. I trudged up and over the punishing rise over the Massachusetts Turnpike, then ran some more, determined to finish. I finished the last mile at an agonized run, turning the corner on Hereford, and then onto Boylston, and even found a desperation burst for the finish line, at last, only to be passed and pushed over to the bandit exit,

where no one noticed or greeted me, except for a few Red Cross helpers asking if I needed water.

The Boston Marathon or any marathon is not the distinct occasion that it appears to be, the mark of uncommon-ness that compels respect from other, un-athletic mortals, other runners and from oneself. The training itself is the mark, the way of life. For each mara-thon, the four months or more of managing time, of managing relation-ships, of managing work, of managing nutrition, spirituality and health. The accretion, daily, of seven to 10 to 15, to 18, to 20-mile runs, in my case, around the Charles River bike path. Runs at all times of day, all seasons, all weathers. The accretion, too, of one hour, to two, to three, to four sometimes each day, six days a week (one day for rest): dawn runs; midday in winter for the heat; twilight or darkness in summer heat waves. Where does such time come from? What gets displaced? The empty time? The brooding time? The television time? Spared injuries, the setbacks of hard colds or flu. The shoes run down, replaced. The running shorts and T-shirts and sweatbands and socks. The daily laundries. The gradual weight loss and muscle development.

Running has its morality. Lessons that I needed to rehearse.

There is the lesson of self-aware-ness and acceptance, beyond unrealis-tic ambition. You need to settle within your capacity and perform there as well as you are given to perform, this time. This is a different matter from being better than you are, or can be, by accident or miracle.

There is the lesson of rehearsing a death: the callisthenic of having to falter, to fail against your will and dream and achieving. The mortifica-tion, literally. All the coaching advice

about dealing with “the wall” and about psyching yourself beyond the wall doesn’t apply for me. My lesson is in reaching and honoring limits, not in ignoring them.

There is the lesson that all activities – teaching, parenting, writing, sex – have their distinct karma and the point is to immerse will and effort into its inevitable nature. If it is given for the run to be 10 miles, 15, 20, then it is. If it is not given, then it is not. It is not for me to force or will the outcome. Strength is not the issue. The run itself is the issue.

There is the lesson of celebrating, from your individual limits, the glory of full human possibility. The constant flow of runners, thousands and thousands of others – not just the elite, but the good, the average, the lucky, the dogged (each has a life, each has negotiated a way to spend two or more hours for training each day for four months while still parenting and still holding down a job, each has fought snows and freezing temperatures through the hard winter) – as they continue up and over the hills and close the last six miles to the finish.

In recent years I have only managed one 10K race each April, the James Joyce Ramble in Dedham, and this year I haven’t even managed that.

Still, each spring, marathon fever fills the air. I see runners pushing for distance around the Charles as I drive to school. Come Marathon Monday, I watch the coverage on TV, beginning in Hopkinton. I feel the anticipation. And there again is Johnny Kelley, no longer able to run even the final mile of the race, and barely able to make it to the microphone, but he does, one more time, singing his song. The announcer recounts Johnny’s 61 appearances in the Boston Marathon, his two wins, his seven finishes as second.

As the race gets underway, with cameras following the leaders, I am in fact in the gym, on my treadmill with a TV console at eye level and earphones plugged in. I am remembering. The sights, the smells, the company, the pain, the dream. I watch the leaders, the men passing familiar landmarks, then the women. I can feel the race happening. And even as I drive home, I listen on the radio.

This is aging. Life itself is our glory and ordeal, our measure of heart, and of passion. We do our best. There is no finish line.

Professor DeWitt Henry teaches work-shops in fiction and in memoir writing, and courses in Shakespeare and the American short story. He is a former chair of Emerson’s Department of Writing, Literature and Publishing and has taught at the College for the past 25 years. He is the founding editor of the acclaimed Ploughshares literary magazine and for the first 20 years its executive director. The essay here is excerpted from Henry’s latest book, Safe Suicide, a memoir-in-linked-essays. He is also the author of an award-winning novel, The Marriage of Anna Maye Potts.


6 Continents

4 Corners

13 Stories

Emerson alumni

live and work

all over the world.

These are the

stories of just a

few of them.


4 Corners

f the future is global, then many

Emerson alumni are already there.

Emerson College alumni live

and work almost everywhere. Some

are North Americans who choose

to live abroad, others are foreign

nationals who studied at Emerson

and then returned to their native

countries or chose to live elsewhere

in the world. Each year, students

admitted as undergraduates represent

a rich variety of up to 30 nations.

International students also form

the core of several of the College’s

graduate programs, such as

Global Marketing Communication

& Advertising.

Here, Expression takes a look at

just a handful of the alumni

who live and work abroad in fields,

including special effects in

film, pharmaceuticals marketing,

law and literature.


By Rhea Becker


São Paulo, BrazilAlan Clendenning ’87

Although he was born in Bethesda, Md., and raised in Hanover, N.H., Alan Clendenning feels completely at ease living outside the United States. “I always wanted to work overseas. I always wanted to go to a Spanish-speaking country. I married a Spaniard.” • As it turns out, his dream has partly come true: Clendenning is living and working as Brazil bureau chief for the Associated Press wire service. He directs news coverage for South America’s largest nation from São Paulo, the continent’s biggest city. When he was hired to work in Brazil as a business reporter in 2002, Clendenning had to endure a trial by fire: he needed to become fluent in Portuguese in the space of a few months so he could confidently interview sources for stories. He did so, and became bureau chief in 2006 when the longtime São Paulo chief vacated the position. • Brazil has proved “fascinating,” due to its strong mix of political and economic news. “Stories fall off the trees here,” says Clendenning. When he arrived in Brazil, the nation had just elected its first leftist, working-class president, breaking a tradition in which most presidents were viewed as coming from an “elite” class. Clendenning watched as fears evaporated that Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva would wreck the country’s economy, and he became “kind of like Bill Clinton: centrist, liberal on social issues, conservative on economic issues.” • “There’s huge demand for news from Brazil,” says Clendenning. “You have to be plugged in all the time. There’s not a lot of downtime.” Stories he has reported include Brazil as an agricultural superpower, the deforestation of the Amazon, visits last year by the Pope and U.S. President George W. Bush, the Pan American Games and the worst plane crash in the nation’s history. • Clendenning reports stories as well as assigns them to a staff of writers. “I do my best to make sure we are first on the news and to provide compelling features copy.” • Clendenning, who has two children, says Brazil features terrain ranging from “stunning beaches to beautiful farm land.” One day, he hopes to get to Spain and perhaps India – “any place that has great stories.” • Before Clendenning joined the Associated Press in 1998, he worked in New Orleans and New York as well as wrote for the Portland (Maine) Press Herald and the Keene (N.H.) Sentinel.

Grand Cayman, CaribbeanWil Pineau ’86

Bruins!” He and his family visit often. “Exploring the diversity of America is one of our pastimes,” he says. • Pineau moved to Grand Cayman in January 1987 to help launch an investigative news magazine. He also helped to launch a publishing company that produced tourist publications, reference books and a weekly newspaper. • Today, in his work for the Chamber of Commerce, there is “never a dull moment. That’s what exhilarates me. One minute I could be speaking on the phone with an international journalist, greeting some tourists or investors from Europe or Asia who are looking to relocate to the Cayman Islands, or meeting with government officials about economic policies.”

Americans often vacation in the Caribbean. For Wil Pineau, it’s the reverse: He lives in the Caribbean paradise of Grand Cayman and visits the U.S. on vacation. Pineau has been CEO of the Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce since 1994. • The Fall River, Mass., native feels perfectly at home in the sun and sand. “The Cayman Islands are a tropical paradise with a high standard of living and very friendly people,” he says. “It’s a great place to live and work and to raise a family.” He says he has never felt like an outsider. “I’ve learned to adapt to the local customs and traditions, especially driving on the lefthand side of the road,” and becoming accustomed to the “unique Caribbean accents of the local people.” The Cayman Islands attracts nationalities from around the world, he says, which results in “a wonderful multicultural and multinational living and working environment.” • When he misses the United States, he can always hop on a one-hour flight to Miami. Yet, he admits, “I do miss the excitement of Boston and the best sports teams in the nation – the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics and



Brisbane, AustraliaAlicia Aguilera ’93

Alicia Aguilera traveled the globe for the sake of love. • After attending Emerson, Aguilera, a New Hampshire native and visual effects artist, moved to New York City and, later, Los Angeles. Then, while vacationing in Australia she met the man who would become her husband. “We had a long-distance relationship for a year, and then when he came to see me in Los Angeles, we drove to Las Vegas and got married,” she recalls. She moved to Australia four months later and has lived there for the past two and a half years. • Aguilera is currently working on the sci-fi thriller Knowing, starring Nicholas Cage, for Animal Logic, a large post-production company based in Sydney. Her work involves melding digitized film, Photoshop files, video footage and other elements into film scenes. She lives in Brisbane, but travels frequently to Sydney for work.

“The film industry in Brisbane is not big enough to support a freelance career, and rarely does a full-time position become available for someone with my skill set,” she says. • Fitting into a new culture can be challenging, she admits. “In smaller cities like Brisbane, it is less diverse, so people will often ask you silly questions or have tough judgments about you. As a person from the United States, you are often held responsible for what your government does. In Sydney, I feel less like an outsider.” • But Sydney is “a very expensive city to live in,” and Aguilera and her husband are not certain whether they want to move there, or perhaps return to the U.S., and “live somewhere that allows me to live and have my career in the same city,” she says. In any case, Aguilera finds Australia to be “a beautiful country.”

Emerson connects all things global


During any particular year, students from over 30 different countries enroll at

Emerson. With the development of the new Emerson Global Network (EGN), cur-

rent and prospective international students as well as international alumni and

parents will be able to more easily connect and learn more about Emerson’s in-

ternational community. EGN has scheduled the launch of a fully developed web-

site for January 2009. • “The Emerson Global Network’s mission is to create a

sense of identity for the international community of Emerson College,” says Mar-

di Klein, assistant director/recruiter in the Office of Admission. “The Network

provides support and information for international students, alumni, faculty and

staff in order to communicate and exchange ideas on and off-campus.” • EGN

is currently collecting stories of members of the Emerson College community with

internationally related experiences that can be shared via the website. Emersonians

can contact Marilia Gordinho, communication management coordinator of EGN,

at [email protected] for more information on how to share their

experiences on the new website.


London, EnglandLisa Fabian Lustigman ’73

SingaporeEric Yap, MA ’01

Lisa Fabian Lustigman once dreamed of a career in acting. Today, she works as an attorney at the flagship office of a prestigious law international firm in London, England. • What made her switch careers? “Realism,” she says. “I think one has to take stock at a certain point. Not everyone is going to be a successful actor, but you could be successful at something else while retaining a love of the theater.” • After graduating from Emerson, Lustigman flew to London to study acting at the Drama Studio. While abroad, she met a London native who was to become her husband in 1974. She began to study law in 1978. • She was a partner and head of family law at two London law firms before joining Withers LLP, a top international law firm with offices around the world, in 2002. As an expert on family law issues, she is a regular commentator in the national press (The Times, The Telegraph, The Sunday Times, The Guardian and The Lawyer) as well as on television and radio. • Lustigman maintains her connections to the U.S. by visiting at least two or three times per year. Since her law firm maintains offices in Manhattan and Greenwich and New Haven, Conn., she attends the partnership conferences when they are held stateside. In addition, each year she and her family spend about 10 days in Provincetown, Mass., in June and about three weeks in September. “This year, I was in the U.S.A. in February and June and will be going there in September, then Rome in April and Israel in May. So between conferences and vacations, we get about quite a bit.”

Eric Yap has a stomach for intense work. He serves as director of Singapore’s Homefront Security Division in the Ministry of Home Affairs. • “It would be untrue if I were to tell you that there’s no stress,” says Yap, a native of Singapore, “but it is healthy stress as it keeps the pace going for me. Generally, I see myself as being able to adjust and adapt fairly easily to changes. I’ve also been fortunate to have very understanding bosses who are reasonable in their approach – and I have a supportive family.” • Yap, who earned a master’s degree in integrated marketing communication at Emerson via a Fulbright scholarship, graduated in 2001 and returned to his native Singapore to continue his career with the Singapore Civil Defence Force as a uniformed division commander and, later, as director of operations. “These appointments placed

me at the forefront of actions such as commanding a major five-day rescue operation when a section of a major highway collapsed in Singapore in 2004,” says Yap. He was also involved in directing seven overseas rescue missions from Singapore following earthquakes in Indonesia, Pakistan and recently Sichuan, China. • Now working in the Homefront Security Division, Yap says, “The global security environment remains uncertain, and this is one of my job’s challenges: ensuring a prepared homefront to deal with all crises and hazards, including terrorism and pandemics.” • Yap describes Singapore as “a fascinating city that never sleeps.” • Since graduation, Yap has returned to the United States several times for work, including a trip to Boston in 2006. “Unfortunately, none of the trips were during fall, which I feel is perhaps the nicest season, particularly in New England.” Yap is still in contact via email with some friends from Emerson, including Associate Professor Ted Hollingworth, “who has been (and still is) my source for advice since college days.”



Basel, SwitzerlandFederico Maiardi, MA ’03

Frankfurt, GermanyFarida Amar, MA ’05

It doesn’t hurt that Federico Maiardi speaks Italian, English, Spanish and some German. Born and raised in Bologna, Italy, Maiardi graduated from Emerson’s Global Marketing Communication & Advertising program and landed jobs in marketing communications in the pharmaceutical industry, first with Boehringer Ingelheim in Germany, then with Boehringer Ingelheim in Venezuela, and now as associate international communication manager at Roche, based in Basel, Switzerland. “Fitting into new cultures is never a big problem since I’ve always worked in multinational corporations, and the environment is always very international, with lots of expatriates,” says Maiardi. “Of course, it’s more complicated outside of the office, especially because of the language barrier.” • Moving back to Italy is not in the cards right now for Maiardi. He loves being a global citizen. “I always try to spend a few extra days in the places I travel to for business, to try and get to know the place. This year it was Buenos Aires in April and San Francisco in October.”

Born in San Bernardino, Calif., and raised in the Mojave Desert of California, Farida Amar has been on the move all her life. “My mother was a pilot and I was almost born on a plane. I left the country with my parents for the first time at 18 months old. I lived outside the country for the first time at the age of 15 and the second time at age 16.” • Still, living in a new country has its challenges, she says. “You have to adjust. But at the end of the day, it’s all worth it. Not just because Germany is a wonderful country or the sausages are so yummy or that I really like my new apartment or that I’m making good friends, but because I’m building an international career. I am going to be able to tell my future children not to be afraid to do what I did.”

• Amar is on staff at the prestigious worldwide Saatchi & Saatchi advertising agency’s Frankfurt office, working on the Volvo and T-Mobile creative teams. It wasn’t until Amar attended Emerson that she realized she wanted to be an advertising art director. “Emerson did not yet offer a creative portfolio program for advertising. At the time it seemed futile, but now I am more grateful than ever that I learned those [other aspects of the business]. Thanks to Emerson, these things come naturally to me, and I believe this is one of the main reasons I have gotten as far as I have at such a young age.” • Her typical workday? “I don’t know if there’s a typical day in advertising. One day you’re making a campaign for some crazy new eco-friendly toothpaste, and the next day you are calling gorilla specialists in the Congo. It’s absolutely fabulous, and I don’t know why anyone does anything else.”



Istanbul, TurkeyMert Baydur, MSSp ’01

Oslo, NorwayHans Petter Moland ’78

Frankfurt, GermanyFrancisca Maier ’07

Norway is a very small place. So Hans Petter Moland’s parents always encouraged him to “get out and get a different perspective than that of a small, homogenous culture like Norway. Nothing bad about Norway, but it’s a small country, with 4 million inhabitants.” • So filmmaker Moland traveled to the U.S. as an exchange student in 1972. “It was a wonderful revelation. People were outgoing, curious and very inclusive. I lived with a great family and learned a lot about myself and this new country, which everyone in the world has seen in the cinemas and on TV. I liked it so much I came back to go to Emerson, and spent more than 10 years in the U.S. before I moved home at age 30.” • Moland’s work takes him all over, from the Arctic to Vietnam. He started his own production company 20 years ago, producing five feature films and several hundred commercials. His films have starred the likes of Stellan Skarsgard and Charlotte Rampling and have been presented at film festivals all over the globe. • His 2004 film, The Beautiful Country, was produced by film greats Ed Pressman and Terrence Malick. “I remember seeing Terrence Malick’s Badlands while at Emerson, and it stunned me. To be able to work with both Terry

Istanbul, Turkey, native Mert Baydur’s family is in the media business. So after earning a master’s degree in marketing at Emerson, and a master’s degree in management with a concentration in multinational commerce at Boston University, he returned to Turkey to join the family company Sinefekt, a post-production facility for advertising and feature films, where he is vice president. “It was great to live in the U.S.A.,” he recalls, “and I still visit at least once a year, partly for leisure, partly for business.”

Born in Karlruhe, Germany, and raised in Marbella in southern Spain, Francisca Maier attended a foreign German high school. She now lives in Frankfurt, Germany, and works as a junior account executive at the prestigious worldwide advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi. There, she works in a department that serves as the liaison between clients and the various other agency departments. The clients include Procter & Gamble and Emirates Airlines. Maier, who spends her spare time bicycling, running, cooking or “exploring the Frankfurt nightlife with my coworkers,” plans to move back to the United States to obtain a master’s degree in psychology within the next two years.


and Ed (who produced Badlands) was a great privilege.” • Moland’s home life is full as well. He and his wife have six children. “It’s wonderful to have a large family. They are great kids, good to each other and other people. But, of course, it can be demanding to be supportive of so many different souls. I can’t say I get excessive amounts of sleep, but after nearly 30 years in the film business I guess I’m used to that.”


Buenos Aires, ArgentinaMori Ponsowy, MFA ’99

GuamDoug Arvidson ’69

KenyaCindi Crain Magnusson ’89

How did a young woman from Stamford,

Conn., find herself running safaris in Kenya?

By following her best friend of 25-plus years,

Lisa Rolls Hagelberg. “It was her dream to

be there,” says Cindi Crain Magnusson, “and

once she was there, I soon followed. On my

second trip, I decided to move.” Once settled,

in 2001 the pair launched VirginBush, an

adventure travel company that “organizes

and choreographs private adventures in gor-

geous settings. It’s quite a nice business to

be in.” • But culture shock has been a con-

stant. “While I was living in Kenya, I’d have

major culture shock coming back to America.

It’s always an adjustment on both sides –

what both offer, what both lack.” • But after

five or six years in Kenya, Crain Magnusson

decided to return to America. “I was still

single and my biological clock was ticking,

and I wanted to shake things up.” She began

house hunting, and soon met the man she

would marry. Crain Magnusson still has a

home and her business in Kenya, but she

lives full time in Amagansett, N.Y., with her

Icelandic husband, Geir, and 5-month-old-

son. She returns to Kenya for visits. • “Lisa

lives in Nairobi with her husband, daughter

and mother, so she handles [the business]

while I am here.” The business partners have

scheduled a February meeting stateside to

develop some marketing plans together. • Crain Magnusson is leaving the door ajar for

a possible return to Africa: “I’ll be taking my

family to Kenya in October to introduce my

husband and son to it all. We’ll see what hap-

pens from there….”

Been There, Done ThatTwo U.S. citizens who spent years abroad return to their roots

For the past 11 years Doug Arvidson has lived

on a 41-ft. sailboat on the island of Guam. Just

another adventure in a life full of travel. And

his travel was often guided by his career. This

just-retired speech-language pathologist of

32 years worked overseas for 25 years for the

Department of Defense Education Activity.

He lived in Iceland for two years and Ger-

many for 12. During that time, Arvidson and

his wife traveled throughout Europe and the

Pacific. “I’ve run the bulls in Pamplona, skiied

the Alps, gone walkabout in Australia, and

during one around-the-world summer, trav-

eled across Siberia on the Trans-Siberian Rail-

road, visiting Lake Baikal, Moscow and St.

Petersburg. We’ve either sailed or flown to

many of the islands in the Pacific, including

Hawaii, Bali, Yap, Palau, New Caledonia and

Saipan.” • Arvidson, an avid sailor, retired

in June, leaving Guam for “a more settled life

in a small town” on the Chesapeake Bay on

the Eastern Shore of Virginia. How did he

choose this location? “First, it’s on the water,

the Chesapeake Bay to the west, the Atlantic

Ocean to the east. We are longtime yachties

(boat people), so that was critical. Second, the

Eastern Shore is very rural – pure farm coun-

try – and the towns are straight out of May-berry, R.F.D., and we love that. Next, the cli-

mate is moderate, and we are close to family,

friends, and within reasonable reach of New

York City and D.C.” He plans on writing full

time and sailing.


Mori Ponsowy spends her days doing what she loves: writing. Her current project is a book of interviews and discourse analysis of Argentinian women political leaders. The book couldn’t be more timely because Argentina today has its first woman president and “there are many women working and competing in the political arena,” says Ponsowy. She is also a columnist for the daily newspaper La Voz del Interior and writes opinion pieces for the national daily La Nación. She has translated into Spanish two books by American poets: What the Living Do, by Marie Howe, and The Father,

by Sharon Olds, and has published her first novel and a collection of poetry. • Born in Argentina, Ponsowy has lived primarily in Peru and Venezuela. She worked as a creative director at Saatchi & Saatchi in Caracas, Venezuela, but realized she “wasn’t doing what I’d dreamt of doing with my life.” In 1997, she earned a scholarship to study creative writing at Emerson, so she left Venezuela for Boston with her 2-year-old child. • Soon after receiving her degree, Ponsowy moved back to South America, where she won a poetry prize for her first poetry collection – which happened to be her M.F.A. thesis at Emerson. • Although Argentina is her native land, Ponsowy feels she “is still abroad, because I left this country when I was one year old and only returned after finishing my M.F.A. at Emerson. It hasn’t been easy to find a job and to adjust. People in Venezuela are friendlier and warmer.” However, the cultural life of Buenos Aires is much richer, she says. “There are always lots of things going on, thousands of people writing, acting, playing music.” She also entertains the idea of returning to Boston one day. “I miss Boston and dream of finding something there to work on or to study so I could live there again for a few months.” E


THEATERJason Grossman ’02 directed the Piti Theatre Company’s production of Riding the Wave.com at Boston Univer-sity’s Playwrights’ Theatre. The show is the autobio-graphical story of a young man’s investment in tech company Wave Systems, from the giddy heights of the Internet bubble in New York City to a journey toward India in search of spiritual wisdom. Grossman also collaborated with Emerson Professor of Performing Arts Robbie McCauley and Daniel Alexander Jones in the world premiere of Bel Canto, which was workshopped at the Sundance Theatre Institute.

lover in Boston, putting a cat to sleep in Chicago, hang-ing laundry by moonlight in Washington, D.C.”

Joe Randazzo ’02 is an edi-tor for the satirical news out-let, The Onion, and recently promoted the company’s new mock atlas called Our Dumb World (“now with 30% more Asia”). He was also in-terviewed on National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition. While at Emerson, Randazzo won the Helen Rose Oral Interpretation Award and the first Joe Murphy Comedy Award.

Mrigaa Sethi ’05 won a prize in the 12th annual Amy Awards Contest. The Amy Award is presented to women poets age 30 and under living in the New York City metropolitan area or on Long Island. Winners receive an honorarium and a reading in New York City. Sethi took part in a read-ing with two other winners at the New York Society Library in New York City. She is also involved with the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, the country’s largest literary arts nonprofit dedicated to the creation, development, publication and dissemination of Asian-American literature.

Lockie Hunter, MFA ’07, was among the contestants to advance to the semi-final round of Amazon’s Break-through Novel competition, Amazon.com’s first writing

Actor Andrew Greer ’06 received an outstanding review for his role in the show The Brig, now touring in Los Angeles. Written by Kenneth H. Brown, The Brig is a drama that re-creates life in a military jail. According to David Ng of the Los An-geles Times, Greer is “one of the cast’s standouts.” Greer toured with the show last summer in Europe.

WORDSDavid Valdes Greenwood, MFA ’94, has published his second book, A Little Fruit-cake: A Childhood in Holidays, which is comprised of 12 sto-ries. The book was warmly reviewed by the Advocate, the nation’s foremost gay and lesbian magazine. Rachel Louise Snyder, MFA ’95, has published her first book, with WW Norton. Fugitive Denim: A Moving Story of People and Pants in the Borderless World of Global Trade tackles the issue of what it means to be an ethi-cal consumer. Snyder is also a contributor to the public radio shows This American Life, Marketplace and All Things Considered. Her work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the New Republic, Slate, Salon, Glamour, Men’s Journal and many other publications.

Gregg Shapiro ’83 recently published a book of poems, Protection. David Trinidad, author of Plasticville, says the book contains scenes as di-verse as “[lying] in bed with a

competition in search of the next great novel. Semi-final-ists were each given his or her own dedicated Amazon.com web page so customers can download a 5,000-word excerpt of the entry to rate and review. Hunter’s fiction, poetry and essays have been published in print journals, including Quarter After Eight and HipMama. Her novel, Girls, Girls, Out, is set on a barrier island off the coast of Charleston, S.C.

Young adult novelist Taylor Morris ’97 has published her latest book, Class Favor-ite (Simon & Schuster Mix). The book follows eighth-grader Sara Thurman as she suffers personal humiliation and embarrassment. Morris is also the author of Original Divas.

RADIOKen Johnson has joined ABC Radio Networks as director of urban program-ming. He will be working with the syndicated shows Big Boy’s Neighborhood, The Michael Baisden Show, The Doug Banks Show and oth-ers. Johnson had been vice president of urban program-ming for Cumulus, where he spent the past 11 years.

FILMBoston Girls is an indepen-dent film shot in the Boston area, which stars and was written by Camille Solari. It is directed by Gabriel

Notable Expressions

Rachel Louise Snyder, MFA ’95, has published her first book.


Bologna, whose parents, TV and film veterans Joe Bologna and Renee Tay-lor, also star. Producer Jon Waterman describes the film as a “dark horror-comedy.” Other actors in the film are Shay Astar (3rd Rock From the Sun), Robert Miano (Don-nie Brasco) and Danny Trejo (Grindhouse, Desperado).

Pooja Kohli, MA ’02, is the director of the Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council (MIAAC) Film Festival. “An event like the MIAAC is es-sential for a film community that is undergoing a huge metamorphosis,” she told India Abroad newspaper. “It is a platform to acknowledge and appreciate good cinema.” Kohli was a well-known television personality in India by age 20. Two years later she researched, wrote and produced a documen-tary on the Shias of Iran for an Iranian TV network. She later sold the documentary, Shiya-Ya-Ne-Hind, to Zee TV in the United Kingdom.

Amir Mokri’s (’81) work as cinematographer for the blockbuster film Vantage Point earned the film posi-tive reviews. The film is de-scribed as an action-packed thriller told from eight different points of view as it tries to discover the truth behind an assassination attempt on the president of the United States. It stars William Hurt and Forest Whitaker.

Cinematographer Shane Hurlbut ’86 worked on We Are Marshall and Semi-Pro (with Will Ferrell) and is signed on for Terminator 4 and Swing-Vote (with Kevin Costner).

Alexandra Milchan ’94 will produce a new Warner Bros. film based on the Alexis No-lent graphic novel Cyclops.

Tony Pietra ’00 recently shared his thoughts about being a director in Malaysia in the Malaysia Star news-paper. After college, Pietra returned to his native Malay-sia and worked as an editor for four years. Eventually, he began directing music videos for local recording artists such as Shelley Leong and Rabbit. He said a turn-ing point was co-directing a music video with director/animator Jordan Suleiman for the Pete Teo single “Lost in America.” Their work won the Anugerah Industri Muzik 2007 award for Best Music Video, which has since opened doors in televi-sion production for Pietra.

TELEVISIONPaul Amirault ’85 is co-exec-utive producer of the HGTV series Over Your Head. His show bails out homeown-ers who have botched a home improvement project. Amirault is responsible for nearly every aspect of executing the show. He casts the show, supervises editing and shooting, and serves as the show’s liaison to HGTV executives.

Kate Boutilier ’81 is one of the writers behind the animated program The Mr. Men Show, which airs on the Cartoon Network. The series is based on the best-selling Mr. Men and Little Miss books, created in the 1970s by British author Roger Hargreaves. Since they were first introduced 35 years ago, the series books have sold in excess of 100 million books worldwide. Alicyn Packard ’03 is the voice of several characters in the show: Little Miss Sunshine, Little Miss Naughty and Little Miss Whoops.

NONPROFITWhen Boston Globe movie critic Michael Blowen ’69 retired from the newspaper, he started rescuing horses through the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. Blowen took his support of the animals to a new level when he founded his own group, Old Friends, to res-cue retired thoroughbreds. His work entails giving the horses “a loving home on a picture-perfect 52-acre farm [in Kentucky].”

Jennifer Howell ’96 was featured in People Magazine. She runs a Los Angeles-based nonprofit called Art of Elysium, which pairs ill children with actors, artists and musicians for creative bonding. “I think what we do for the kids is but half of what they do for us,” Howell told People.

MUSICDeborah Mannis-Gardner ’87 is owner of DMG Clear-ances Inc., the largest company handling sample clearance [acquiring rights for use of music] for the hip-hop industry, with more than two decades of experi-ence working with illustri-ous labels such as Island Def Jam, Bad Boy and Interscope Records. She has worked in sample clearances since 1992 and has had her own business since 1996. In addition to samples, DMG provides music clearance for major movie soundtracks (O Brother Where Art Thou?, The Fast and the Furious); compilation albums and video games (Rockstar); and for hit-makers like Cee-lo, Beyoncé, Ghost Face Killah and Christina Aguilera.

Cinematographer Shane Hurlbut ’86 worked on the film We Are Marshall.


Staff and friends of athletics at Emerson pose at Rotch Field with a portable press box, which was purchased with help from a grant of $7,000 from the Athletic Trust Fund, founded in 1985 by Roy Nagy, MSSp

’73. Since its inception, the Fund has awarded more than $40,000 in grants to the Emerson athletic program, including equipment purchases and team trip sponsorship. Emerson students participate in lacrosse, soccer and softball at Rotch Field.

Boston

From the president of theAlumni Association

Dear Fellow Emersonians,

At the Alumni Board Executive Committee plan-ning retreat in early August it was gratifying to look back on a productive year. Notable was alumni support of the Emerson Fund. This year, for the first time, the Emerson Fund surpassed $1 million.

I know what you may be thinking: The Emerson Fund – phone calls, appeals in your mailbox, end-of-fiscal-year drives. It seems that we’re always out there asking.

Alumni Digest

easiest way to show support for the College. Of course, your time and involvement with our students and academic programs is very valuable. But writing a check to the Emerson Fund, at whatever level is comfortable for you, will make a power-ful impact, especially when combined with the gifts of all the other alumni, parents, friends, faculty and staff.

But, remember, to those big funders, the per-centage of alumni who make contributions to the College is just as significant as the remarkable size of the Emer-son Fund. Last year, 2,556 of us, including more than 800 first-time donors, contrib-uted to the Emerson Fund, a 10% increase. This coming year, we want to increase the number of alumni donors 19%, to 3,040, so I hope you will plan to make a gift when you get that call or letter – of whatever amount you can afford.

If you need more in-formation on the Emerson Fund, contact the Director of Annual Giving, Cheryl Crounse ([email protected] or 617-824-8543), or if you wish to get involved as a volunteer at the College, please contact Barbara Rutberg in the Alumni Relations office ([email protected] or 617-824-8275) and they and their dedicated teams will assist you.

Check out the Emer-son online community at www.emerson.edu/alumni or search our new Emerson College web pages at Face-book.com, Linkedin.com, Twitter.com and Flickr.com. And don’t forget to save the date for Alumni Weekend 2009 – June 5-7.

With warm regards,

Robert FriendPresident, Emerson College Alumni Association

Well, maybe that’s true, but only because it’s so important. The Alumni Board and its development committee, led by Jon Derek Croteau ’99, worked very hard this year with parents, students and staff to help Emerson reach the million-dollar goal, not because it is a flashy milestone, but because it is important to the College.

The Emerson Fund is one of many fundraising initiatives for the College. Other contributors base their decisions on myriad criteria.

First, Emerson has such an amazing impact for a college its size. We always impress potential funders with our quality.

But funders also look at alumni support. Do we par-ticipate in College activities and events? Do we mentor students? Most of all, do we give? A strong Emerson Fund shows strong alumni support. Giving to the Em-erson Fund is probably the


Scholarships funded by alumni,one a 1968 graduate, the other ’79

Two endowed scholarships were created this past spring, one by a member of the Class of 1968 and the other by a Class of 1979 alumnus.

Charles Rosen ’68 gave $25,000 to establish the Charles Rosen and David Panzer Scholarship Fund for a student who chooses to minor in business studies or participate in the Emerson Experience in Entrepre-neurship. Preference will be given to gay and lesbian students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

Emerson College is near and dear to Rosen’s heart. Leaving nothing to chance, he decided to make a bequest to benefit his alma mater. “I want to be part of a continuing legacy,” he said. “You don’t get to take your money with you when

you leave this earth. I want to take care of things that are important to me, including Emerson College.”

Celebrating his 40th reunion this year, Rosen graduated with a degree in speech that he says has been invaluable to him through-out his career. Immediately following graduation, Rosen taught for the Manchester, N.H., school system and later moved to New York to pursue his passion – acting. Eventually, his career path led him to Madison Avenue and the world of casting. In 1988, he opened his own casting agency, Charles Rosen Casting Inc. and is currently collaborating with Florida’s Riverside Theatre, Florida Stage, and Maltz Ju-piter Theatre, among others.

“I have worked my whole life to make a differ-ence in the world of per-forming arts and wanted to

do something for a deserv-ing Emerson student,” he said. “I was fortunate to qualify for a scholarship at Emerson, so it made sense to me to pay it forward.”

Whitney Clay Diller ’79 has established the Lyell B. Clay Memorial Scholarship with a gift of $30,000. The scholarship was established in memory of her father, a philanthropist who believed in ‘giving back’. With his brother, he created the Clay Foundation, which has been a major supporter of the arts in West Virginia.

“Emerson was, without a doubt, a defining influence in my life,” says Clay Diller, who gradu-ated with a degree in print journalism. “I remember after class going to a Beacon

Hill coffeehouse with a group of other students and spending hours discussing the professor’s lecture. For me, Emerson reframed the educational experience in the most wonderful way. It shaped how I think about learning, not only for myself, but for my children.”

The scholarship will support one or more annual award(s) for full-time un-dergraduate students in the School of Communication who have financial need and remain in good academic standing. Preference will be given to qualifying students applying from West Virginia.

Clay Diller lives in Nashville, Tenn., is married and has two children. She is a free-lance writer who has written for magazines including Nashville Life, Southern Living and NFocus.

Emerson’s Alumni Relations office is presenting a new online program featuring Women For Hire CEO and Good Morning America Workplace Contributor Tory Johnson ’92, who offers smart tips and tactics in a 25-part, fast-paced web-based series. Each video segment in the series offers a detailed, step-by-step guide on topics ranging from networking skills and acing the interview to negotiating successfully and creating an effective online profile. Tune in each week at www.emersonalumni.com for a new segment, and log in to see the complete series archives.

Alumna Tory Johnson coaches Emerson job hunters


More than 600 alumni and friends came together May 30-June 1 to celebrate Alumni Weekend 2008. Spanning several generations, alumni shared their memories and celebrated a homecoming that transcended the decades. While savoring the past (including a mini voice and articulation refresher from Professor Ted Hollingworth at Sunday’s Faculty Alumni

Brunch), alumni took pride in Emerson’s present, rais-ing nearly $50,000 for the Alumni Association Scholar-ship fund at Saturday night’s auction. Other highlights in-cluded Zeta Phi Eta’s centen-nial and Rho Delta Omega’s 60th anniversary.

Alumni Weekend 2008

Alumni Weekend 2009 will take place June 5-7, 2009.

“Call your friends and start planning your trip,” says Barbara Rutberg, director of the Alumni Relations Office.

“We’ll be celebrating milestone reunions for all classes end-ing in 4s and 9s, the 40th anniversary of EBONI, and the 60th anniversary of WERS (88.9 FM). This is, and always will be, our Emerson.”

Bill Hennessey ’56, Barbara Hood ’56 and Ernie Phelps ’56, MA ’62

Caryl Nussman Hurwitz ’68, Lynn Carol Weber ’68, Betsy Gimpel Mena ’68 and Beverly DeMayo ’68

Mildred Radlauer ’53, Philip Radlauer and Vivian Shoolman ’53

Back row: Judy Garvey St. James ’58, Rusty Hart Wildey ’58; front row: Bonnie Glovin ’58 and Nan Whelpley Carney ’56

After receiving her master’s degree (with honors) in publishing and writing in 2001, Shelley Martin returned to British Columbia to teach. In 2003 she received a full fellowship for doctoral studies at the University of Louisiana in Layfayette. In April 2007, Martin was entertaining a friend who had come to attend her graduation ceremonies when she was instantly killed in an automobile accident. In tribute to her memory, family and friends have established scholar-ships at the colleges and universi-ties where Martin was a student and teacher. Here at Emerson, the Dr. Shelley Martin Memorial Schol-arship will be awarded to a full-time candidate for a master of fine arts in creative writing.

Shortly after Martin’s death, the College also learned about the untimely passing of another Emerson graduate, Eric Algren. A member of the Class of 1996, Algren was a visual effects artist who worked on many films, in-cluding Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, 300, X-Men: The Last Stand, Aeon Flux, Little Man, Fail-ure to Launch and Titanic. Because Algren was always quick to credit Emerson and his semester in Los Angeles for his success, his family requested that contributions in his memory be sent to Emerson. The Eric Algren Scholarship will be awarded to participants in the Los Angeles program who are preparing for careers in film.

If you would like to honor Martin’s or Algren’s memory by contributing to the Martin or the Algren scholarship funds, please contact Amy Meyers at [email protected] or (617) 824-8918 or send a check payable to: Emerson College with Algren or Martin scholarship in the memo line to Amy Meyers, Emerson College, 120 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02116-4624.

Memorial scholarships mark untimely passings


Susan Strassberg ’78, Angela Lifsey ’79 and Elyse Penny Klein ’78

Sidney Levin ’78 and Irving Grabstein ’78

Leslie McAllister ’53, Fred MacIntyre Dixon ’53 and Dick Libertini ’58

Dancing the night away are Nan Whelpley Carney

’56 and former Professor Coleman Bender.

Jean Peckham, Richard Levy ’68 and James Peckham

Stewart Smith ’78, Mitchell Arkin ’78 and Robert Orr ’75

T.J. Mahar ’89, Jon Staples ’91, Jack Weir ’51 and Derrick DeLuties ’91 celebrate the 60th anniversary of the RDO fraternity.

Alumni Association President Robert Friend ’79, Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award recipients Sandra Goldfarb ’78 and Michael McCusker ’88, and President Jacqueline Liebergott


Alumni who represented Emerson at recent presidential inaugurations on other college campuses include: Glenn Laxton ’64, Providence College; Tom Bauer ’68, Haverford; Andrea Liftman ’70, Salem State College; Dennis Blader ’75, University of Connecticut; Kathleen Wagner, MFA ’96, Wellesley College; and Charlotte Lindgren, professor emeritus, Lasell College.

Carrying Emerson’s flag

The New York and Los Angeles Alumni Association chapters hosted “Emerson 101: Your Road to Success,” events designed to welcome new graduates and recent transplants. Panels filled with advice to jump-start careers and find out about local resources and opportunities were featured. Thanks to Neal Roscoe ’92 and Mark Stewart ’77 in Los Angeles. and panelists: Tim Dunigan, Greg Holstein ’07, Chris Jackson ’92, Billie Larson ’07, Gary Grossman ’70, Karen Black, MA ’06, Sarah Fahey, MA ’06, Elizabeth Hollendoner ’92, Finian Jackson ’01, Tony McNeal ’01, Skip Collector ’76, Coleman Hough ’82, Robyn Simms ’92 and Arleen Sorkin ‘77. Special thanks to Andre Archimbaud ’94 and Yahoo! Hot Jobs for hosting the New York event. Presenters were Kimberly Cowser ’06, Tim Duff ’06, Stephanie Ellis ’07, Chad Gessin ’04, Ryan Piotrowicz ’03, Charles Rosen ’68 and Balie Slevin ’02.

Welcoming recent graduates toNew York and Los Angeles

Barbara Rutberg ’68 (left), director of Alumni Relations, Professor Emeritus Charlotte Lindgren and President Jacqueline Liebergott join artist and Emerson Emeritus Professor Tom Dahill at the opening reception of his show “Swimming with Fish” at the Newton Free Library gallery.

Claim your 15 minutes of fame atwww.emersonalumni.comwhere you can:

Make your accomplishments known by posting your résumé or web-basedportfolio online!

Shamelessly promote your next great event with discussion boards andregional calendars!

Tap all of your classmates via the directory and social networking

If you haven’t registered for the free online community yet, note the IDnumber in the next email newsletter,and visit www.emersonalumni.com. Click on “register now” and follow the instructions. Or you can [email protected] for details.

‘In the future

everyone will be

famous for15

minutes.’Andy Warhol

Artist and Web 2.0 visionary

Thanks to your pals in the Alumni Association, the future’s arrived.

Dennis Blader ’75 (right) with President Michael Hogan of University of Connecticut.

Boston


1936Mary O’Keefe Dentler attended her 70th reunion luncheon in 2006.

Allee Hamilton Wood, age 94, recalled that her Emerson class was “small because of the Depression.” The number of students enrolled was just 40, and “ended up as about 25.” Still, Allee, who lives in upstate New York, has remained in touch with a number of her classmates, even calling all of them in honor of their 70th Class Reunion in 2006. Over the years Allee has been in contact with: Mary O’Keefe Dentler, Pearl Levine Irving, Edith Norris Cuny, Thelma Tucker Cooper, Lucille Spencer Sotherden, Beula Moore Peoples, Helen Moorey Bodnar, Ruth Pedrik Solenski and Anne Doris MacDougall.

1946Arline ‘Lee’ Addiss is celebrating her first year as a volunteer at the Paley Media Center, formerly the Museum of Television and Radio in New York City and Beverly Hills.

1951 Charles Callaci, age 84, was once editor of the Berkeley Beacon. He has continued his writings as a magazine columnist and on his blog, ProfessorWisdomSays. His critique of Catholic liturgy,

“Wake Up, Mass is Over,” was printed in the August 2008 issue of the Jesuit publication Homiletic and Pastoral Review.

1953Fred MacIntyre Dixon and Richard Libertini ’58 performed during this year’s class reunion as the Stewed Prunes, a comedy act they first developed in New York in 1960. They performed over a number of years at numerous clubs and theaters, including Circle in the Square in New York and The Purple Onion in San Francisco. They have had long and successful careers, MacIntyre Dixon primarily in the theater, where he has appeared in more than a dozen Broadway productions and countless Off-Broadway shows. Libertini has mainly appeared in film and television, including The

In-Laws, with Alan Arkin and Peter Falk, and All of Me with Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin.

John Meunier completed his 20th year of readings from Kahlil Gibran’s work.

1957Bill Lynch was elected to the 13th Ward Committee in the city of Boston on Feb. 5, 2008.

1960Michelle (Mickey) Solomon Shrair, MSSp ’60, and husband David just celebrated their 50th anniversary. Emerson is where it all began, she writes. The couple met on their very first day. They have three children and seven grandchildren, one of whom is a performer and is considering applying to Emerson. “Perhaps things will have come full circle in 50 years.”

1964Charles Coombs writes, “1964 may seem light-years away to recent Emerson graduates, but for the Class of ’64 Emerson was just yesterday. Peak times in your life are in color, and the sounds echo down through time. Emerson pushed me out the door into the world. From WGBH to Vermont College, Grahm Junior College, Cape Cod Community College and retirement on Cape Cod….

‘Expression necessary to evolution’ is still true’.”

1965Daniel Paulnock, MS ’70, received the Minnesota State Colleges & Universities 2008 Board of Trustees Golden Excellence in Teaching Medallion and its accompanying cash award. He was selected from approximately 11,000

Mary Geddes Avery ’50 (left) writes: “This past May, Joan Steen Silberschlag

’50, MA ’67 (center), and I celebrated our 80th birthdays with a party in Branson, Missouri, with the help of our family and many friends, 26 in all. Among the guests was another one of our classmates, Mary Ann

‘Candy’ Courtney Gasser (right), and her husband, from Michigan.”

Class Notes

The Pennsylvania Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery presented its 2008 Distinguished Service Award to Roberta Aungst

’61. Here, she is pictured with Robert Ferris, MD, 2008 President of the Pennsylvania Academy.


faculty of the state colleges and universities. He serves as department chair for the Communication, English, Speech & Theatre Department of Saint Paul College, where Carol Paulnock ’68 also teaches courses in speech and theater.

1968Ralph Maffongelli was featured in Drama Biz magazine. He wrote and directed an original play called Sixties – Hippies, Secret War – Hmong.

1969Harlan Baker has been performing Jimmy Higgins in Maine. “I started writing it a year ago while in rehearsal for The Importance of Being Earnest at The Stage at Spring Point. You might say it took me almost 40 years to finally do what would be the equivalent of a Southwick Recital.”

1971Harold (Hal) Kneller works at iBiquity Digital Corp. in Punta Gorda, Fla., as director of international broadcast business development. He promotes the adoption of HD radio technology to countries outside the U.S.

“So a good deal of my time is now spent in places like Brazil, Mexico, China, and, of all places, Vietnam. Coming from the Class of ’71, who’d have thought I’d ever end up in a rice paddy with a new transmitter installation 30+ years after the war ended!”

1973William Litant ’73 and Michele Order Litant’s ’76 son Josiah has been named assistant dean of student services at Hampshire College. Bill is a communications director at M.I.T., and Michele is a senior

editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. They just celebrated their 28th anniversary. They met in 1979 when he hired her through Emerson Career Services.

1975Abby Altshuler recalls a few

“incredible” teachers, most notably Harry Morgan, Mary Ellen Adams, Bill Fregosi and Susan Paigen. “I was on work-study as the scene painter when the Dramatic Arts and Theatre Arts Department were two separate entities, but I painted for both. I remember late, late nights painting miles of ‘brick wall’ for Leo Nickole’s West Side Story musical, and finding various-colored drowned rats in my paint buckets one morning after the school had put out rat bait the night before. I sure loved my job at Emerson and learned all the basics of my current faux painting career….”

David Garretson writes, “It’s an exciting time for me. I’m running for New York State Assembly to represent the western suburbs of Rochester, N.Y. Now I can put my Emerson speech and persuasion skills to use as never before!”

1976Lee Stacey, former senior vice president of the New York Jets, has been named senior vice president of sales and marketing for IMG College, a sports marketing firm.

1977Brad Lemack has launched the Web entertainment and e-commerce site RerunIt.com, which celebrates classic television celebrities and their impact on American pop culture. The site features exclusive interview clips from

Michael Kletter ’66 (second from left) writes, “After over 40 years, Fred Nadelman ‘65 (right) made contact with Judy (Raphael ‘66; left) and me on Hilton Head Island. Fred and his wife, Legare (second from right), live nearby in Savannah. It was great catching up on very old times!”

1933 Eleanor McKeen Brosius 1939 Maxine C. Walker1948 Ruth S. Applebaum1948 Harry S. Novak ’48, MSSp ’521951 Ellen Duff Pickering 1957 Ronald P. Allard1961 Sam-Donald Beaulieu ’61, MSSp ’691962 Lois Jaffe Simmons1963 Phoebe A. Yphantis 1967 Francis M. Palms III1973 Joan Wilson1980 Dick Beebe 1983 Michael Isabelle 1991 Angela A. Dowgos1996 Eric Algren2001 Shelley Anne Martin, MA2002 Elizabeth Whidden

In Memoriam


Lemack’s own broadcast archive as a talk show host. Brad is also a faculty member at Emerson College’s Los Angeles Center.

1982David Millstone writes, “I played Henry IV in Henry IV, Parts I & II and one of the guys in The Complete History of America, Abridged, at the Oklahoma Shakespearean Festival, over the summer. If this surprises anyone, I went to Emerson as an acting major, but changed to journalism. But I’m happy to be back in theater. Took long enough!”

1984Scott Fergang was promoted to senior vice president and director at RBC Wealth Management, an investment banking firm in New Jersey. He was also elected vice chairman of the board of trustees of the State Theatre of New Jersey, The Paper Mill Playhouse. Scott is married to Barbra Lieberstein, a cantor, and has three children, twins Sara Maya and Joshua, 6; and Jordana, 4.

James Nussbaum was featured in the July issue of the New Jersey Jewish News for his work on a new documentary about ultimate Frisbee. He has also produced film work for Harley-Davidson motorcycles and the New Jersey Association of Interior Designers. In addition, he has created pieces for mtvU on the Rutgers Grease Trucks (food truck vendors) and on double Dutch jump rope teams. Nussbaum’s Jump received a 2007 Davey Award.

1985Jennifer C. George, MSSp

’85, graduated in May from American International College with a master of science in accounting and taxation. She is pursuing a CPA license.

Marianne Lonati ’85, MA ’98, teaches in the theater department at Dean College in Franklin, Mass. The college is building a new theater with the hopes of expanding the theater program. Marianne

When Terri (Delgiorno) McGraw ’82 paired up with professional dancer Geno Aureli, they were named Overall Grand Champions of the “Dancing with Our Stars” competition, an event held at the Hotel Syracuse in upstate New York. McGraw is the creator and talent of the nationally syndicated Mrs. FIXIT Easy Home Care and Repair brand.

Elizabeth (McCready Cote) Rossi ’89 and Geoff Rossi were married April 4, 2008, on San Juan Island in Washington State. They live in Seattle with their five children. “Geoff and I had a beautiful, small wedding with only our children and immediate families.” Their honeymoon was a motorcycle adventure through the Canadian Rockies and Vancouver.

Judy Calderon ’03 and Tom Gauthier

’03 were married June 7, 2008, on the grounds of the One & Only Ocean Club, Paradise Island, the Bahamas. They live in Portland, Maine, where Tom is assistant radio broadcaster for the Portland Sea Dogs, a Double A baseball affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. Nick Spinetto

‘02 attended the wedding.


teaches musical theater ensemble, theater history and public speaking. She oversees musicals (“just finished Rocky Horror Picture Show, what a hoot!”). “I love my job. The kids are fantastic!”

Steve Smallshaw recently left WDBJ-TV in Lynchburg-Roanoke, Va., after more than 20 years in television news. He had been the Lynchburg bureau chief for more than 14 years. He is taking a job with the city of Lynchburg, helping to start the new government cable TV channel. Steve and his wife, Mari, have four boys: Wes, Rick, Charlie and Jimmy.

1988Thomas Deslaurier-Tate and wife Carolyn welcomed their first child, Cecilia Alexa. Fellow alumni Dan ’86 and Jen ’85 (Reed) Deslaurier, whose matchmaking brought Tom and Carolyn together, were delighted to welcome their niece.

Derek Prusak won two Communicator Awards of Distinction for his video production, The United States Constitution, which he produced and directed. He was also a guest on the late-night radio talk show, Coast to Coast AM, where he discussed the production.

1992Paul Boese has released a DVD for kids, Under Construction. It’s 30 minutes of digging machines and construction site action.

Stephanie (Varco) Collins ’91 has lived and worked in three states since graduation, and is firmly planted in Boulder, Colo. She is president of JumpSpark Coaching & Consulting, which provides coaching programs to mid-level executives, entrepreneurs and business owners worldwide. She is also a founding partner of Compass, affordable coaching programs for women. “Emerson was the launching pad for an incredibly meaningful career,” she writes. Stephanie has been married to David for 16 years, and is mom to two Emerson-bound entertainers, Spencer, 15, and Delaney, 11.

1993Kate (Stapleford) Crawford and Scott Crawford are proud to announce the birth of their baby boy, Nathan Frederick, on Jan. 22, 2008, in Newark, Del.

1994Michelle (Gerard) Arst recently accepted a position at Capitol Music Group in New York in the Business Affairs department, working with pop/rock artists. Prior to this, she was a talent agent for Broadway, TV and film actors for 12 years. Her husband will be managing the Broadway production of Billy Elliot this year. Daughter Samantha is 3.

Kelly Carolyn Gordon, MA ’94, is coordinator of theater studies at Brevard College in Brevard, N.C. Friends can write to [email protected].

Corey Oliver’s guitar business was profiled in the L.A. Times Business section in June.

Daniel Fellini ’94 and his wife, Bridget, recently moved to Portland, Ore., where he is executive producer for a start-up online public purpose network called the Public Internet Channel (PIC.tv). It is part of One Economy Corp., a D.C.-based multinational nonprofit that uses technology to help provide opportunity to low-income people. “I’d love to hear from and meet up with other alumni in the Portland area,” he says.

Christopher Littlefield and Michelle Abbott were married March 27, 2008, in the rotunda of San Francisco City Hall. They live in Oakland, but will be moving to Portland, Maine.

1990Douglas Haslam is an account director at SHIFT Communications in Boston, a technology public relations agency with offices in Boston and San Francisco. “The new position provides me with an opportunity to grow and manage internal teams and external client work, as well as continue the successful pioneering in social media communications techniques that I began with Topaz Partners.”

Syndi Pilar is working as a freelance editor in New York City and recently received a N.Y. Emmy in the Arts: Program/Feature Segment for the piece “Nuttin But Stringz” for MSG networks. She also received a nomination for program editor for the same piece.


1995Rick Holmes has put his journalism degree to good use.

“I’ve oscillated between resort towns and hardscrabble cities.” He has been a reporter/anchor in Traverse City, Mich.; Flint, Mich.; and Virginia Beach, Va. He is now a Newark, N.J., reporter for Cablevision. “I owe everything to Marsha Della-Giustina!”

Carol Walker married Eric Robert Dexter at Yosemite Chapel in 2003 and was elected mayor of the little town of Washington, Calif., for the term July 2008-July 2009.

1996Bonny Buckley, founder of Aardvark String Quartet, has produced a new CD, Tranquillo, A Northwest Celebration. She has accepted a contract to direct the music program at Livingston American School of Shanghai and maintains the blog http://americaninshanghai.blogspot.com.

Lauren J. Meiner and husband Mark Stone are happy to announce the birth of their baby girl Jessica.

1997The Missoula Independent has tapped arts and entertainment editor Skylar Browning to be the paper’s next editor. Browning earned five first-place honors for feature writing from the Society of Professional Journalists, multiple awards from

the Montana Newspaper Association and this year was granted a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts for arts criticism.

Adam Golaski graduated with a degree in writing, literature and publishing and just had his first book published. Worse Than Myself is a collection of short stories.

Paula Otero launched an online magazine and blog targeting Latina women titled Mujeres camino al exito/Women & Success. The site showcases women who are doing what they love and finding success at it. She also launched the newsletter Mujeres Weekly, whose goal is to deliver news updates, event information and other interesting topics.

1998Eric Latek appears in a recent issue of Filmmaker magazine in a feature called, “The World’s Top 25 New Faces in Independent Filmmaking.”

Bryan Olsen is a standup comic, actor and writer in New York City. He just sold his first screenplay, with co-writer Neal Brennan, to Ivan Reitman and Paramount Pictures. As an actor he has appeared on Chappelle’s Show several times.

Snake Oil, a new one-act play by Margo Williams, MFA

’98, opened for a three-week run in August 2008 at the

Paul Starke ’95, senior producer of The Tyra Banks Show, won his first Emmy award in June in the category of “Best Talk Show/Informative.” This capped a very eventful year during which Paul co-wrote the #1 New York Times bestseller, An Inconvenient Book. But the highlight of ‘08 was when he and his wife (and fellow Swolen Monkey alum), Melissa (Rosenfield) Starke ‘93, welcomed their first child, Luke Franklin Stark, in April.

Laura E. Woods ’96 married Krista Glaser on June 28, 2008, in Cloverdale, Sonoma County, Calif. Attending the wedding were Emerson alums (from left) Dina (Sidebottom) Bogan ‘96, Maureen Condron ‘92, Mark Capaldi ‘96, Laura Woods, Cullen Sprague ‘96, Jennifer Parissi ‘96 and Thessaly Lerner ‘96. Laura is a high school drama teacher and play director and lives with her wife in Oakland.


Brown Coat Pub and Theatre in Wilmington, N.C., where she lives and teaches creative writing and literature. Also, her poem “Blue Robe” was adapted as a performance piece at the annual Arts Poetica at Wilmington’s Thalian Hall (an evening of artistic interpretations based on poetry).

1999A first novel by Erin Dionne, MFA ’99, Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies, will be published by Dial Books for Young Readers (a division of Penguin) in March 2009. One of her short-short stories,

“New Rollerskates,” was selected as one of 20 pieces to air on NPR’s, DimeStories. The piece was originally written in Pam Painter’s short-short story class and anthologized in Rose Metal Press’s Brevity & Echo.

Chloe Jones writes, “JB Jones changed her name to Chloe Jones – actually quite a while ago now – and hid out like a hermit. I’m now designing voice user interfaces in the Midwest and plotting to move back to Boston someday.”

Sarah D. Scalet, MA ’99, is technology editor for About.com, owned by the New York Times Co. She lives in the New York area with her husband and two daughters, Charlotte, 5, and Leah, 1.

2000Brian Klebash recently produced and organized a conference that explored the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan for New York City-based publisher ALM. More than 300 key downtown stakeholders attended the forum. In recent years, he has organized finance, real estate and investment events in the U.S. and Asia.

Finian Shea Johnson completed the L.A. Program during his final semester at Emerson. Through the experience he gained during his internship, he began a career as a television editor with credits, including The Amazing Race, The Bachelorette, The Bachelor, The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, Hell’s Kitchen, Fashion House, and My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss. “I credit Emerson College, Emerson’s Los Angeles Program and Jim Lane for the skills, direction, contacts and inspiration I needed to have a successful career as an editor in Los Angeles.”

Greg Waxberg is a writer and magazine editor for The Pingry School in New Jersey and is a freelance arts writer for magazines. He and HeatherAnn Pukel are getting married in October 2008.

Michelle Ziomek and Mark Williams are thrilled to announce their engagement. The wedding ceremony will take place in 2010 in Boston. Mark is employed as a city of Boston firefighter and Michelle returned to Emerson

Lisa Chiango, MA ‘06, was among 14 artists with disabilities whose artwork was exhibited in a show at the Massachusetts State House last spring. Her photographs were inspired by the Massachusetts state parks. The exhibit was funded in part by grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation and Very Special Arts.

David Patrick (Bibeau) Sanchez ’99 graduated with a doctor of psychology (marital and family therapy) degree this year from Alliant International University in San Diego. He adopted two boys this year, which he notes as being his greatest accomplishment since leaving Emerson College.

Tommy Arria ’00 and wife Alison had a beautiful baby girl, Vivian Ann Arria, on Feb. 28, 2008.

Carla Sosenko, MFA ’01, is associate copy chief at Life & Style Weekly. Her writing has appeared in Self, New York Moves and PunchlineMagazine.com, and she is a frequent contributor to Jewcy.com. She would love to hear from classmates and former students at [email protected].

Collin Del Cuore ’05 has been with Harpo Productions for over a year producing promos for the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Emma Bersin Putnam ’06 is alive and well. She was mistakenly listed in the

‘In Memoriam’ column of the spring 2008 issue of Expression magazine. Emma contacted us to report she spent the summer in Loch Sheldrake, N.Y., at Stagedoor Manor summer camp as an assistant choreographer and ballet and musical theater teacher. She will be moving in the fall either to Boston or New York City to continue pursuing a career in acting. Expression regrets this error and appreciates Emma’s graciousness.

Corrections


in April 2008 to work as an assistant property manager in the Property Management Department.

Chris Wight ’00 and Kelly Wilson ’01 got engaged in June. They write, “We didn’t know each other while at Emerson, although we almost certainly were in a couple of media arts classes together.”

2002Jeff Daniels finished the second season of Mystery ER for the Discovery Health Channel. He directed and shot the documentary series, which airs on Monday nights. The hardest part of the job was completing 20-plus hours of high quality re-creations in a matter of months. “It was like Directors Workshop 101. I would get a script in the morning and by the next day we were shooting it.”

Charisma Ridgley just moved back to the Boston area to attend graduate school at Lesley University for expressive therapy with a specialization in art.

John Warren has been nominated for a daytime Emmy. For three years, he has worked as an editor for the PBS series Fetch with Ruff Ruffman, a show that blends unscripted live action with animation. He is also directing and producing a short 16mm movie called The Entertainer.

2003Jeanine and Rockiss Estrada are expecting their first baby in January 2009. The couple met in 2001 at Emerson’s Kasteel Well program and have been together ever since. They live in New Jersey. Jeanine is senior marketing and communication manager at Clinilabs and recently earned an M.B.A. in pharmaceutical management from Drexel University, and Rockiss works at State Farm Insurance in Rockland County, New York. Friends can write to: [email protected] or [email protected].

Paul Hawkins received a New England Emmy for Outstanding Editor: Program for his work on the Red Sox Report, a 30-minute magazine-style program focused on the World Champion Boston Red Sox that airs on NESN. It was Paul’s first Emmy award and his 7th nomination since 2005.

Kimberly Huff was born and raised in Memphis, and graduated from Emerson with a degree in marketing, advertising and public relations. Before moving back to Memphis, she spent the summer in a small town in Texas, where she wrote a book, Tall Skinny Cappuccino. She recently received her master’s in social work at the University of Tennessee. Kimberly is now a medical social worker in Memphis and is working on her second novel.

Irving Last ‘02 and Kelley Coco ‘04 got engaged in a hot air balloon overlooking the wineries of California’s Temecula Valley in January 2007. Irving works at CNN as an assignment editor/producer, and Kelley works as a promo producer at the Hallmark Channel. The couple live in Los Angeles. A July 2009 wedding is planned.

Ben Rolling ’99 married Missy Klepetar on Sept. 15, 2007, in California. A number of Emerson alumni were present to celebrate, including John Cassella ’98, Vic Carbonneau

’97, Ryan Thompson ’99, Steve Scaia ’98, Jennifer Eddy ’98, Shaun Merryman ’99, Heather Hobson ’98, Rob LaRose ’98, Ryan Lynch ’98, Melissa (Eaton) Lynch ’99, Joya (Reusch) Weinroth ’98, Kenchy Ragsdale Jr. ’00, Melinda Valente ’97, MA ’99, Jason Smith ’98, Brandy Scott ’98, Rick Dominicus

’98, Melinda Richards ’98, Rory Lapointe ’98, Jen Kilburn ’98, Kat MacNab ’99, Missy Landry ’98, Amy Reynolds ’98, David Lagana ’97, Mike Doto ’97, Tim Davis ’98, Steve Eddy ’01 and Joe Einstein ’99.


2004Jayk Gallagher directed the West Coast premiere of Eric Coble’s biting social satire Natural Selection. LA Weekly called it “hilarious” and the L.A. Times called it “a hoot!” Gallagher is a resident artist with needtheater in Los Angeles, joining the company after acting in their production of Birdy last fall.

He has appeared in numerous national commercials, TV shows and print campaigns since moving to Los Angeles.

Lisa Pendse has been selected to judge the 2008 Hollywood Reporter Movie Marketing Key Art Awards, the only international competition honoring the individuals responsible for the design and creation of motion picture and home entertainment marketing materials.

2005Maressa Brown is an assistant health editor at First magazine in Englewood Cliffs, N.J.

Lucia Nazzaro moved back to Boston to work for Bus Radio, a national radio program for tweens and teens which broadcasts as they ride to school each day. The broadcast has more than 1 million daily listeners. Lucia is also recording her second album.

Lindzi Scharf is a Los Angeles-based entertainment journalist who works for InStyle magazine and as an on-camera reporter for WireImage Video, Hollywood.com TV and as TV host for AMP’D Mobile. She reports,

“Over the last three years, I’ve interviewed everyone from Anthony Hopkins and John Travolta to Sandra Bullock and Sienna Miller.”

Christopher Fernandez ’98 and Susan Fernandez had a second baby girl, Kyleigh Susan (left), in 2007, in Elmer, N.J. Kyleigh was welcomed by sister Abigail, 3. Christopher has accepted a position at Center City Film & Video in Philadelphia as a staff AVID Symphony editor. “After five years of freelance editing for a number of different broadcast outlets and on events including the NBA Finals and the Little League World Series, Center City Film & Video in Philadelphia made me an offer too good to pass up.”

Daniel Sbrega ’99 and Melissa Dallon-Sbrega ’00 had a baby boy, Johnny Dallon Sbrega (above), on May 1, 2008, in New York City.

Sarah (Simons) Ommen ’99 and Andrew Ommen welcome Ava Noelle, born April 2008. She joins big brother Zachary David, born September 2006.

Paul J. Morra ‘95 and wife Danielle announce the birth of their two miracles, Kylie Madison Morra and Hayden Avery Morra, on Sept. 1, 2007, in Los Angeles. After a challenging pregnancy and 11

heart-wrenching weeks at Cedar’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, both babies are doing well. The miracles continued when on Nov. 4, after being home for just one week, Kylie and Hayden woke mom and dad just in time to notice a fast moving wildfire approaching their home. The family safely evacuated and their home was saved. Paul may be reached at [email protected].

Sharon (Smith) Stone ’87 and Mike Stone have adopted a daughter, Rose Nieman Stone, at 16 months. She joins big brother Duncan, 6.

Baby boom

Kaitlyn (Wante) Mikalaitis ’05 and Jeffrey Mikalaitis were married April 20, 2008, in Boston.

Christina Relacion Finnell

’07 is a public relations fellow at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Christina most recently served as a producer at Newsradio 620 WTMJ. She and Brett Finnell ’05 were married in February 2008. Imaeyen Ibanga, MA ’05, and Bill O’Connell ’05 served as co-emcees for the wedding ceremony.

And What are You Doing

Where Are You

Matthew Shawlin and Sarah Sakaan are engaged to be married.

2007Nathan Bewley works at the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority and is applying for graduate school programs in mental health counseling.

Lindsay Daly works at Northeastern University as a graduate assistant in the Athletics Department. She will be attending New York University for a master’s degree.

Coli Sylla recently accepted a position at Warner Bros. in Burbank, Calif., as marketing consultant.

2008Sandra Riel recently earned her master’s degree in integrated marketing communication while working full time at Bain & Co. in Boston. She’s now ready to make the leap into a different industry, entertainment PR, and one that she’s been itching to get into since interning at WBZ-TV 4 in 2003.

New job? Received an award? Recently engaged or married? New baby? Moving? Recently ran into a long-lost classmate? Let us know. Use this form to submit your news or send it to [email protected]; 1-800-255-4259; fax: 1-617-824-7807. You can also submit Class Notes online at www.emersonalumni.com. To register for the online community, use the ID number located above your name on the mailing label of this magazine. Include all of the zeroes.

First Name Last Name Class Year

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Mail to: Class Notes, Emerson College, Office of Alumni Relations, 120 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02116-4624


Growing Up FastRaised without parents, Sherri Raftery ’90overcame every hurdle Sherri Raftery and 1930s child star Shirley Temple have something in com-mon – something that Raftery ’90 says inspires her to make a difference with her life. “One of my big little secrets is that I modeled my life after my hero, Shirley Temple, who played characters who always lived in orphanages, group homes and hoped to become adopted,” says Raftery, who lived in Boston-area foster-care settings until she was 17.

“Through it all, Shirley always laughed, sang and danced her way through the hard times.”

Raftery has taken that spirit to heart and created a life for herself that is about giving back. “I’ve had an ordinary life with extraordinary circum-stances,” she says. “I did not have to fol-low in my biological parents’ footsteps. I decided that I would be more, do more and give more.”

Raftery was recently honored by the Home for Little Wanders in Boston – where she grew up and where she has volunteered for years – during the organization’s annual Voices & Vi-sions fundraising gala. “Sherri is truly an inspiration to all of us,” said Joan Wallace-Benjamin, president and CEO of the Home, a nationally renowned, private, nonprofit child and family ser-vice agency. Raftery is writing a memoir about her experiences, entitled The Little Wanderers’ Home.

Raftery says the most difficult thing about being a foster child is she “never really felt like I belonged in those homes because at any moment they could send me back, which was usually the case.” She adds that the strain of moving to so many different placements left her without a sense of

stability in her life. And having to move to a new school meant “so many new rules to follow,” she adds.

Now, at 42, Raftery is raising her daughter Sabrina, has her own speaker’s business (Find Your Plat-form), has earned a master’s degree in education and is active in community theater in Saugus, Mass. (the theater company was formed 40 years ago by Emerson Professor Emeritus Leo Nickole) as well as in the Toastmasters International organization, where she has held leadership positions and won awards. Raftery also volunteers as an educational surrogate parent for children who are in the care of the Massachusetts Department of Social Services and speaks publicly about her personal experiences for the Home for Little Wanderers and Toastmasters. She has been invited, for example, to speak to groups in Fremont, Neb., where she talked about the Orphan Trains, a topic she has studied. (From 1854 to 1929, trains from New York, filled with 150,000 to 200,000 orphans, transported the children to new homes,

mainly in the farming communities of the Midwest. The Home was a part of the Orphan Trains Movement.)

Growing up as a foster child allowed Raftery to learn how to adapt and how to be flexible and use her sense of humor, she says, something that may have helped her during her years at Emerson when she performed stand-up comedy around Boston.

Raftery transferred to Emerson from Salem State College. “I just wanted more, and transferring to Em-erson really opened my eyes to televi-sion, public relations and advertising.” Raftery was an entertainment reporter and host for Emerson radio station WERS (88.9 FM), attended the Los Angeles Program in 1990 and interned at Entertainment Tonight.

“As unstable as my life was, I could always count on knowing that I was going to go to school each day,” she says. “I loved Emerson.”

– Christopher Hennessy

Profile

Diane Lake

Gifts that Matter

Diane Lake, an accomplished screenwriter (Frida) and an assistant professor of visual and media arts, has penned scripts for Columbia, Disney, Miramax and Paramount. She used a Huret Faculty Development grant last summer to do research in Europe in preparation for writing a script called The Expatriates, which explores the lives of Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and their compatriots during their years at Villa America at Cap d’Antibes, where numerous American expatriates congregated.

Why did you go to France?I am drawn to literary, artistic people who defy all the odds. And because I wasn’t there in 1920s Paris, I needed to go. I could sit in front of the computer and make things up, but you have to go and walk where they walked in order to bring them alive on the screen or the page. I tracked down all the haunts where Hemingway and Fitzgerald lived. When people think of Hemingway and Fitzgerald, they think they were hanging around the cafés of Paris, but the truth is, the place where they really spent a lot of time was the south of France. I think Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises evolved out of his experiences at Villa America. It’s a private residence today, but I could imagine what they did while they were there. This gets into the kinds of scenes you write. You have to try to know these people so well. Doing what they did, seeing what they saw lets you get inside their head more easily than 10 million books. You’ll write something much more vivid.

What was a typical day like?For me, a good day of writing is four hours. So I’d research during the day, and later I would sit down to write, before or after dinner. So while I was researching on the Huret grant, I also got a lot of work done on a Civil War project I’m writing.

One of the most exciting benefits of receiving a Huret grant, Lake says, was meeting another Emerson faculty member who also won, Assistant Professor Megan Marshall, author and Pulitzer Prize finalist in biography and memoir. The two are now forging professional and collegial connections that the Huret grant helped foster.

The Huret Faculty Development Award supports promising junior faculty members like Diane Lake develop portfolios of their professional work that meet the criteria for granting tenure at the College. The award was established by Emerson Trustee Judy Huret ’69 and her family. To learn how you can make a gift that matters, contact Robert R. Ashton, vice president for Institutional Advancement, at (617) 824-8548.

Photo by David Leifer

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Irv Grabstein ’78

MyA l u m n i W e e k e n d

June 5–7

Reunion Year for

All Classes Ending in 4s and 9s

Milestones

50th Reunion, 1959

25th Reunion, 1984

10th Reunion, 1999

60th Anniversary, WERS

40th Anniversary, EBONI

35th Anniversary, Sigma Pi Theta

Check out emerson.edu/alumni/weekend for the latest updates

expression fall 2008

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