Arthur Engoron
June 8, 2025
No. 208.

Welcome to The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 208.

Class of 1985 40th-Year Reunion

Jared Goldstein (1985) Writes - The Wheatley School Class of 1985 40th-Year Reunion will be held on June 21, 2025 at 6:00 pm at Phebe's Tavern, 361 Bowery, at East 4th Street, in the East Village of Manhattan. Anyone who likes someone from our class is welcome. It is a buy-your-own drinks-and-food gathering. To have our own room and bartender, we need to order, in advance, $500 worth of food. We have been using Facebook ‘Wheatley Class of 1985 Reunion’ to check in. If Facebook isn't for you, text Jared at 917-533-1057 or email JAREDG@PIPELINE.COM. Please attend and bring someone.

Thank you. Best regards, Jared

Research Subjects Wanted

Visit The Museum of Chinese in America Free of Charge and Help a Researcher!

A researcher who is studying at Columbia Teachers' College is looking for volunteers to visit the Museum of Chinese in America with her and give her feedback on how well the museum teaches Asian-American history. If you are interested, here is the link to sign up: https://forms.gle/X7av9QZ8yngj5wNm9

Submitted by Takemi Ueno, Class of 1983

The Museum of Chinese in America Wikipedia Entry

1984 Day at Wheatley

Elvira (“Vivi”) Cilmi Kunz (1964) Writes - “Hi Art, I would like to share my memory of 1984 Day in response to Jesse Samberg (1964)! As I remember, we all had to dress alike: black pants, white shirt, and red bandana! We participated in discussions about our personal goals and how we thought the world would accept us in 1984. Teacher Peter Witt had come back from the military and had many stories to enlighten us about our possibilities in life, considering the political status of our nation. I remember after considering the 1984 Project, being afraid that each of us would be controlled by the government, so it didn’t matter what our individual goals were. The idea that we would be constantly watched and orchestrated by our government was pretty scary to me. Somewhere in our discussions, my impressionable self thought it was possible that our government was going to force us into being something we did not choose. We needed to be wary of a controlling government as we set out to find our way in the world.

Even though this was a fictional dystopian adventure, it still was stressful for me. I know it was supposed to be a learning experience, but I remember it being beyond my optimistic outlook on life.”

Ellen Solow Holzman Writes - “Jesse Samberg’s (1964) comments on George Orwell’s 1984 sparked some memories. We did, indeed, have a 1984 Day, when we all wore blue jeans (otherwise forbidden) to school, and the girls sported the red belts or sashes of the “Anti-Sex League”—like Julia in the novel. We paraded through the halls to the gym, where selected scenes from the book were acted out. I remember Marilyn Bardo (1964) performing in one of them

More recently, as an AP English teacher at Wheatley (I retired in 2012), I used 1984 in my curriculum for many years—after carefully explaining to my students that it was supposed to be about the future (not a problem in 1964 when I first read it). As a final project, I had my students work in groups on a presentation, each group covering one of five different topics, such as censorship or surveillance. In their presentations, the students needed to analyze the topic in the book (with quotes, etc.) and discuss the relation between the topic and current events (with quotes from news sources). The students also needed to present an editorial position on the issue and pose questions for the class to discuss. I often changed which books I taught, but that was one I kept in my curriculum.”

Still More Wheatley Fencing

Steve Amerikaner (1965) Writes - “Hi Art: I found a couple of photos of the Fencing Team in the 1962 yearbook (first photo below) and the 1965 yearbook (second photo below).

L-R - Bottom Row - Ellen Andors (1964), Carol Abby (1963), Heidi Thaler (1962), Linda Ungashick (1964), Francine Krauss (1964), Donna Sugarman (1966), Deborah Krane (1963)

Middle Row - Margaret Robbins (1961), Steven Amerikaner (1965), Mark Friedman (1963), Mitchel Pastarnack (1963), Frederick Kaye (1963), William Frankfort (1963), Wulf Maevers (1962), Mr. Stein

Top Row - Robert Berkowitz (1965), Robert Arthur Jacobs (1963), Stanton Brannin (1963), Richard Berman (1963), Keith Aufhauser (1963), Roy Nierenberg (1963)

Top Right L-R - Standing - Steve Amerikaner (1965), Mr. Stein, Gibb Geery (1965)

Ruth van Eck-Rotholz (1974) Writes - “I remember winning the 1973(?) season’s Nassau County North Shore fencing competition. I think it was due to our wild enthusiasm.

Our female team consisted of 5 players, and I was number 5. The competing team, Cold Spring Harbor, had only 4 players, and their first player was a semi-professional fencer, whom we dubbed 'The Amazon.’ In the fifth bout, I ended up in a match against the ‘Amazon, and in a great lunge, I ended up breaking the French grip foil in two, and that point didn't count at the scoring board. The upper half of the foil was actually dangling by the electric wire that was hooked up through our suits to the lights at the point tally desk. Time Out..... William Wolff (1974) let me use his foil, except it was a Spanish grip ( somewhat like squeezing clay between your fingers….but in metal). I had no previous experience using this kind of grip, which amplified my nervous shaking, and the point of my foil wiggled wildly, which confused my ‘Amazon’ opponent, and I scored another point, and we won the match and the season!

I didn’t end up following through with fencing in my life, but I did learn that you can do anything if you concentrate your focus and dare to lunge forward.

In 1986, I was invited to be on the architecture team designing the Jerusalem Supreme Court, and I took the professional lunge and left the USA in February 1987. I met my Swedish seismologist husband, who was doing his Post-doc on the earthquake fault line around the Dead Sea, and in 1990 we moved to Utrecht, The Netherlands. I got a grip, and I became a Dutch citizen in 1997.

I don’t know whatever happened to my Wheatley red fuzzy Varsity letter ‘W’ that was supposed to be sewn on a sweater. We all received varsity letters that year. Amazing!

So, Bob Kalb (1974), we did win the fencing match at Wheatley that season!”

Todd Glickman (1977) writes - “Hi Art, Somehow I became involved with the Fencing Team, though I don’t recall how that started. I wasn’t good enough to compete, so I accepted the position of Team Manager. I was responsible for the equipment – including the electronic vests that connected the circuit at the appropriate parts of the body to verify a good hit. I would get the equipment from storage, bring it on the bus (when an away match), set it up, keep score, and at the end of the match ensure everything was put away. I recollect that Sam Phillips was coach at that time. We had a lot of fun! - Todd

Faculty

Peggy Meisel

Peter Calderon (1961) Writes - “In response to Newsletter # 207, I can see that my classmate Peter Nelson is aching for more Krapp’s Last Tape (Samuel Beckett’s one-act play) memorabilia, so here it goes. Peggy Meisel was also my teacher senior year, and she was indeed extraordinary and inspiring. I recall her announcing in class one day that she had become engaged, and that her first requirement was that her future husband would share her love of opera. I didn’t discuss opera with Ms. Meisel at that time, as I had only been to one as of 1961, but 52 years later, after five decades of a mutual love of opera, I invited Peggy to the Metropolitan Opera. We shared dinner at Fiorello‘s, and then we attended a performance that I cannot recall, but it was memorable to catch up with her during her retirement years. I was also able to engage with another wonderful English teacher, Howard Storm, but that was via telephone and email, thanks to Art’s introduction. In future Newsletters, I hope to contribute more memorabilia that resonate with Krapp’s Last Tape.”

Edward Ouchi

David Mahaffey (1988) Writes - “I've seen a lot of commentary on Mr. Ouchi. During 10^th grade, he took me aside one day and told me he was on the fence about whether to put me in 11th grade AP English. He said he'd put me in the class if I promised to work hard but warned that he'd be keeping an eye on my performance. I worked my butt off in his class. I thought that his approach helped me to prepare for college. He didn't baby anyone and appreciated it when a student challenged him. When I had difficulty with diagramming sentences, I went to him for help, and he explained it and gave me some extra practice exercises, and eventually, I grasped it. I'll always appreciate his efforts. When I arrived at college and faced Jesuit professors (and their brand of skepticism), I felt prepared.”

Graduates

1958 - Edward Kritzler (Deceased) - Author of “Pirates of the Caribbean”

Edward Kritzler (1958) Wrote (some years ago) - “For the last 40 years, I’ve been living on & off in Jamaica, West Indies. My memories are kinda hazy, because most of those years I was stoned. Even so, I managed to run Jamaica’s public relations account for North America, and today I eke out a living taking people around the island.

I am writing this from my run down farm in the bush where I live with a beautiful Jamaican and her new born daughter. I have a few dozen chickens as pets, a dog and two cats. Since giving up drugs, my days are kinda boring. I spend most of my time on line researching and writing for various media and have a book coming out in the fall, Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean (yeah, my alter ego). I’ve gone thru two marriages and have a daughter, Eliza, 22, in college. She comes down regularly, and we roam the island. My best friends are my high school pals – Charlie Zimmerman, Jeff [Philipson or Fischman], Brian Sirota, and Allen Gordon [editor’s note - surnames added and uncertain]. I occasionally see and adore Phyllis Rapoport and Manuela Youmans’s (1958) dramatic stories. Leon Andors (1958) is a good buddy, and he and his wife throw sumptuous parties at their country estate in Jersey where we all get together along with the Great Deutsch [Allen Deutscher, 1958?], Laurel and George Davis (both 1958).
Life’s been good. I forget most things so I remain happy, ruggedly
handsome and horny. You can check me out at Ed Kritzler - Jewish Pirates Page
Looking forward to seeing u all!
Eddie”

Robert Holley (1958) Writes - The setting for the photo was at an alumni tennis match that was held the morning after our big reunion dinner. Very informal, relaxed atmosphere … I talked with Steve Nelson (1958), about his life after Wheatley, but I don’t remember doing the same with Eddie—no reason not to, as it turns out my wife and I had had very memorable experiences in Jamaica – not being aware until much later that Eddie was there, in a prominent position, during our visits (1973 and 1984) .

Everyone knew by then that his book was coming out that November, and it was no secret that he was an expert on that incredible island culture.

Many of my recollections of Eddie now seem really superficial, the best of them being the afternoon that he locked Miss Elsie Bodnar out of her English class. Classic rivalry -- the two of them… a bit like Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn) vs Mr. Hand (Ray Walston) in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

All the more remarkable that Eddie penned this beautiful, unique book, which I know Miss Bodnar would red-line but would also be very proud that one of her students produced it. Ed was not only a superb athlete, he was stunningly brilliant. As to how/why Eddie made it to the Caribbean, I am still speculating. I have it in the back of my mind that he, like myself, was allegedly at one time, 1957-1958, a huge fan of Fidel Castro and had even tried to join the revolution in the mountains -- late 1958. My nickname my freshman year at MIT was “Fidel,” and I had all the 26 de Julio garb on when I witnessed the tumultuous entry of Castro's motorcade into Harvard Square the evening of 25 April 1959. I sat in the first row for his speech to adoring thousands at the invitation of the Harvard Law School-- Fidel and Che Guevara were only thirty feet away.

My clever young pal, Paul Hennessy (1960) set me to work collecting information about Eddie Kritzler, and, by some Googling-type luck and pluck, I was able to furnish him with quite a bit of information that supplemented memories provided to him by Paul’s classmate, Helen Kritzler (1960), Eddie’s younger sister.

EDWARD H. KRITZLER: YOUTUBE VIDEOS. [[[Note - You may have to click several times in several places to view. At some point look for the diagonal arrow in the lower left corner. Persistence will pay off.]]]

Edward H. Kritzler: Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean: How a Generation of Swashbuckling Jews Carved Out an Empire in the New World in Their Quest for Treasure, Religious Freedom -- and Revenge – November 3, 2009. $10.79. Paperback, $6.49 Kindle at Amazon.

Paul Hennessy (1960) writes - “Between accounts from his sisters, I learned Ed’s path from The Wheatley School to the University of Vermont, army reserve service, reporting in Yonkers, trips to Cuba, and taking the Jamaica Public Relations job. (I was once offered a similar PR job in Bermuda, but instead in 1975 I went to head communications at Colgate in 1975. I was glad I took that route, as ‘island life’ can be too seductive.)

Ed led a fascinating life…..such a bon vivant, never marrying (so far as we know), living in an isolated area of Jamaica and devoting 10 years to writing a book (with a title picked by his publisher).”

As I look back to memories of Eddie at Wheatley, I am not surprised that he would write a book about Jewish pirates in the Caribbean. As a wide-eyed sophomore, watching him and others in the Class of 1958 (Steve Perlin, Michael Stapleton, et. al) stride the school's hallways clad in black leather jackets and motorcycle boots, he/they epitomized pirate swagger.

No wonder Eddie was a star halfback on the undefeated 1958 football team, described by all who knew him--in early days and later heading tourist information for the Island of Jamaica--as a flamboyant ‘life force,’ a free-spirited bon vivant who loved adventure and attention. He described himself, in a class correspondence, as living and raising ‘herbs and spices’ in the remote Roaring River area of Jamaica.

He devoted a decade to researching and writing his book (published in 2008) about Jewish buccaneers --wild mavericks and rebels--and seemed to consider himself the pirates’ modern day alter ego. Reviews on his website (Edkritzler.com) from Jamaica tourists praise his encyclopedic knowledge of the island, his love of Reggae music, and his connections at all levels of government that allowed him to be the film liaison representative for dozens of features and documentaries.

Friday, March 28, 2008

“Who the heck is Ed Kritzler??

[Prepare for a surprise! But, Eddie was always a surprise!]

As a seasoned Travel Writer and having done all the continents of the world, I had never been to ole Pirate Jamaica and the land of Bob Marley and Reggae. My assignment was to contact this Ed, as my personal guide, if I could schedule him for a week, to show me all of the Pirate, and old world Jew places that no one knows of. I was astonished when I met Ed. I knew he was in his early 60's or so, but when I saw him, his youthful manner and body was more so of a 40-year-old stud! This was not your average expatriate; this was Mr. Jamaica in person. OK, on to Morgan’s Harbour and the Pirates. Within 15 minutes we encountered a massive road block of five police cars and a dozen cops armed to the teeth. Kritzler jumped out like an attack dog, and in an instant we were able to pass on by!!

The man made my trip, knew every talented Jamaican, and is the man on island for all Reggae information. I have to hand it to him, for three days it cost me $600 US plus gas and food, a rare bargain in this money hungry world.

-- Al Wellikoff "

1964 - Michael Garin - Ellen Solow Holzman writes - “I enjoyed hearing about Michael Garin’s (1964) life in Paris. I’m jealous……but I did see the Sienna Exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.”

1967 - Art Engoron - Peter Calderon (1961) Writes - “Art, Your peripatetics and encounters with so many Wheatley alumni qualify you to be a diplomat über alles. A nice complement to your daytime exploits as a judge.”

1989 - Michael Ferrara - David Mahaffey (1988) Writes - “You might have noticed Mike on a few episodes of the last season of Saturday Night Live. Pretty cool seeing someone you know on the screen!”

Fan Mail

1964 Elvira (“Vivi”) Cilmi Kunz - “As usual, your work is much appreciated!”

1971 (Daniel Wolf) - “Thanks for keeping the Newsletter going and for reminding us of simpler times.”

1974 - Bob Berta - “Hey Art and Keith - Thanks for putting out the Newsletter. KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK.”

The Official Notices

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

In the first 24 or so hours after publication, Wheatley Alumni Newsletter # 207 was viewed 4,061 times, was liked seven times, and received one comment. In all, 4,754 email addresses received Newsletter # 207. For all of May, readers accessed The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter approximately 16,300 times.

The Usual Words of Wisdom

Thanks to our fabulous Webmaster, Keith Aufhauser (Class of 1963), you can regale yourself with the first 206 Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletters (and much other Wheatley data and arcana) at

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

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

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

Closing

That’s it for The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 208. Please send me your autobiography before someone else sends me your obituary.