Welcome
to The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 90.
According
to Substack, in the first 24 hours after publication Newsletter # 89 was
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negative).
All underlined text is a link-to-a-link (or, rarely, an email
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pops up, will get you to your on-line destination.
Six-Year-Old School Shooting
Six-Year-Old
School Shooting
Jay
Cummings (1960) Responds - “It has nothing to
do with legislators. It’s failed parenting. It’s a violent liberal Hollywood
product. It’s a failed Teachers’ Union led by the child-killer Randi
Weingarten unnecessarily closing schools and masking children who we now see
was not necessary and losing two years of development listening to that mad
scientist Fauci.
The highest crime rates in American
cities are the ones who have the strictest gun control, i.e., New York,
Chicago, and L.A. The problem is that Lightfoot (Chicago) Adams (NYC), and
Bass (L.A.) are liberal loons who don’t get it.
Charlie
Nash (1973) Responds - “It is tragic that a six-year-old was
able to obtain a firearm. The laws of our nation should clearly provide
that the custodial parent(s) of a minor are both civilly and criminally
liable for the use of a firearm by their minor child.
The Usual Words of Wisdom
Thanks to our fabulous Webmaster, Keith Aufhauser (Class of 1963),
you can regale yourself with the first 89 Newsletters (and other Wheatley
data and arcana) at
Wheatley
School Alumni Association Website
Also, thanks to Keith is our search
engine, prominently displayed on our home page: type in a word or phrase and,
mirabile dictu,
you’ll find every place it exists in all previous Newsletters and other
on-site material.
I edit all submissions, even material
in quotes, for clarity and concision, without any indication thereof. I
do not vouch for the accuracy of what people tell me.
We welcome any and all text and photos
relevant to The Wheatley School, 11 Bacon Road, Old Westbury, NY 11568, and
the people who administered, taught and/or studied there. Art Engoron, Class
of 1967
More about Murray The K!
Writes
Dan Ross (1969) - “Hey Art, I went to that 1967 Murray
the K concert you wrote about last week. Ever since, nobody’s believed me
when I told them I went to a concert that was the first US appearance of both
the Who and Cream, neither of which I’d heard of at the time. I’ll never
forget seeing Pete Townshend smashing his guitar and thinking WTF! I had
forgotten all the other great performers, too. What a crazy mix of music! T
hanks for publishing that poster, which brings it all back home (to borrow
another phrase from the time).
Writes Art Engoron - “That lineup is
insane! Dan, was it all on one day?”
Administrators
Clayton
Akin - Writes Halayne Ehrenberg (1969)
- Hi Art, From the "‘It's a small world’ department...." I've
known Clayton Akin's widow, Carol, since college, and I met Clayton a few
times.
I forwarded her Wheatley Alumni
Newsletter # 86, and she provided updated information on the Akin family,
which you have permission to use if you wish to.
Clayton Akin's 3 children while living
in East Williston were Linda, Daniel and Adele:
Linda is,
yes, living in Asheville, NC. She has a daughter, Rae, and 2 sons,
Daniel and Erik. Rae has two boys.
Daniel is
married and living in California and has two grown step-children.
Adele is
married, living in Nashville, TN, has a widowed son, Seth, and a
granddaughter, Sophia. Adele also has a daughter, Geneva, who is married and
has three young children, Harley, Georgia and Anderson.
After East Williston, Clayton and
his then wife had another son, Ray, who lives in NY, and has 5
grown children. After Wheatley, Clayton was a School
Superintendent for 30 years, until retiring in 1989.
After his divorce, Clayton met Carol
Bradshaw, also a Christian Scientist, and married her, and they had two
children,
Caryn, married
with two children, and Brad, also
married with two children. They all live in Westchester County,
NY.
BTW, my family didn't move to East
Williston until 1966, so it really is a small world!”
Graduates
1960
- The Secrets to the Class of 1960’s Success
Writes
Paul Hennessy - “In answer to the question, “What’s
the Glue?” posed in our 1960 classmate Lucy Mullman’s evocative poem, I’d
suggest it’s long-lived Wheatley School spirit, and great memories of happy
times in a nurturing school, now enhanced by Art Engoron’s excellent
reporting on the interesting life stories of productive, talented alumni.
Cheers to all in the coming year 🍀🍷”
1961
- Tim Jerome - Amazing “Show Business” Career
In 2019 Tim starred as Henri Matisse
in Jesse Kornbluth’s play THE
COLOR OF LIGHT at the Schoolhouse Theater in North Salem,
NY. He last appeared on Broadway in the role of Monsieur Firmin in
Broadway's PHANTOM OF THE
OPERA, the role he was selected to play in 2004 when PHANTOM became
Broadway’s Longest-Running Show. He returned to the role in 2012 for PHANTOM's 25th
Anniversary.
Prior to that, he was Dick Latessa's
understudy inThe Lyons.
He was seen in the failed Off-Broadway revival of Dracula, following a run in the rather more
successful revival of Flamingo
Court at New World Stages. He starred as Alfred P.
Doolittle in the acclaimed U.S. national touring production of the London
revival of My Fair
Lady, for which he received the Carbonell Award and a Helen
Hayes Award nomination.
On Broadway, prior to his run in Phantom of the Opera, he
played Jane’s father, Professor Porter, in Disney’s Tarzan, and Belle’s
father, Maurice, in Disney’s Beauty
and the Beast. He performed leading roles in the original
Broadway casts of Grand
Hotel, The
Moony Shapiro Songbook, Arthur Miller's Creation of the World and Other
Business, The Rothschilds, and was nominated for the 1987 Drama
Desk and Tony Awards for his performance as The Family Solicitor in Me and My Girl.
He was featured in Baz
Luhrmann’s production of La Boheme in
the roles of Alcindoro and Benoit, elevated to those roles having started off
in the ensemble playing Lovermore - the role pictured here:
That’s Tim on the left
Also on Broadway, Tim performed
leading roles in Cats, The Magic Show, Lost in Yonkers, and
(the original) Man of
La Mancha. He participated in the pre-Broadway development
of Ragtime, The Red
Shoes, The Baker’s Wife, Assassins, and a host of readings,
workshops and showcase presentations of well-known and unknown works of
contemporary theatre.
Regionally, Tim appeared at the North
Shore Music Theatre (Beverly, MA), Goodspeed Musicals (Chester, CT), the
George Street Playhouse (New Brunswick, NJ), Phoenix Theatre (Purchase, NY),
The McCarter Theatre (Princeton, NJ) and was a member of the Arena Stage
(Washington, D.C.) acting company originating roles in Tom Lehrer’s Tomfoolery, Tintypes, A 1940s Radio Hour and
David Hare’s Plenty.
Tim’s film credits include: Streets of New York, Thirteen Days, (Tim
Robbins’s) Cradle
will Rock, (Woody Allen’s) Husbands and Wives, Everyone Says I Love You,
Celebrity and Deconstructing
Harry, A Price Above Rubies, Compromising Positions, (Costa-Gavras’) Betrayed, Billy Bathgate, Spiderman 2,
and the indy film The
Third Testament.
On television, Tim has had featured
roles in Law and
Order, Third
Watch and others. He also has had a long career in radio and
audio as an actor, director and producer starring in over a dozen episodes of
Joe Frank’s award-winning radio satire series. In the 1970s, he
co-produced the long-running WBAI-Pacifica drama series The Radio, and has
appeared on SciFi.com’s Seeing Ear Theatre presentations and in several audio
dramas for WNYC’s The Next Big Thing. He has won Earphone and Audie
Awards for his recorded books.
In 2008, Tim received a Special Award
from the New England Theatre Conference for Outstanding Achievement in the
American Theatre.
In 2010, he founded MainStreet
Musicals, Inc, which utilizes professional script evaluation, industry
competitions, and local & campus-based concert-readings to promote
development opportunities for new musicals throughout regional America.
MainStreet is a non-profit, tax-exempt (501-c-3) organization. Prior to
that, in 1984, he founded National Music Theater Network, Inc. and designed
its core programs. NMTN launched several successful programs featuring
new works, notably The Songbook Series (monthly at the Donnell Library for 17
years); BroadwayUSA! (1998-2004: the prototype of MainStreet Musicals), and
the annual New York Musical Theatre Festival (launched in 2004, winner of the
2004 Jujamcyn Award).
A fervent unionist, Tim is a proud
member of four performer unions. He has served as a Councilor of Actors
Equity Association, as a Board Member of Screen Actors Guild (now SAG-AFTRA),
and as 1st Vice President of The American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA). He
attended Cornell University, Ithaca College (BFA) and Manhattan School of
Music (Master of Music).”
1964
- Ellen Solow Holzman - “All this talk of
rock and roll reminded me of an event sometime in the sixties—probably in 62,
63, or 64. A rock group came to Wheatley and performed in the gym. I went
with a couple of friends. Since in those years it was de rigueur to scream
and rush the stage, the crowd did just that. In the process, I was pushed into
the edge of the stage and hurt my arm. My parents, I remembered, were out
with friends at a restaurant, so someone called the restaurant for me and
they came and took me to an ER. An x-ray seemed to show I had broken my arm,
and the young doctor on call put on a cast. However, a later exam revealed it
was not broken, and the cast was taken off after I had gathered only a few
signatures. Does anyone remember what group it was?
I also remember that Josh White
performed at Wheatley two years in a row. The first time, we were all
impressed when a guitar string broke and he replaced it while continuing to
play. We were less impressed when he performed the exact same trick at the
second concert.
P. S. Nice to see posts from Peter
Altschuler and Jeff Orling (both 1965), who were good friends of my
family.
1965
- Jeffrey Orling - Han Dynasty, West 85th Street, Manhattan - 1/11/2023
L-R - Art Engoron (1967) and
Jeff Orling (1965)
1966
- Susan Berger Jones - Happily Retired in Bucolic Warren County, NJ
“Dear
Art, I confess to being a lurker on the Wheatley School Alumni
Association Newsletter for a number of years, with occasional pangs of
obligation to send ‘my autobiography before someone else sends us your
obituary.’ The very sad and untimely death of Andrea Levine and the
fact that my brother Michael (’72) contacted you shamed me into reporting on
my activities since 1966.
Long story short and working backwards
from today: I am happily retired from various industries and living in
bucolic Warren County, NJ (Washington Township) in a 55+ active adult golf
community (and, yes, I play golf now). I am also a part-time fitness
instructor, teaching Zumba, Senior Aerobic Fitness, Chair Yoga, Chair
Exercise, and Aqua Aerobics/Fitness. I also do Trap-Neuter-Return of
feral cats and have 13 indoor pet/companion cats of my own.
I ended my career at Express Scripts
in 2014, where I was Senior Director of Healthcare Analytics. Prior to that,
I had worked on healthcare analytics at Medco, and also healthcare and
marketing analytics at Sanofi-Aventis and Schering-Plough. My most
worthwhile accomplishments were developing predictive models to identify
high-risk asthma cases, and I also led the team that identified how genetic
testing can improve outcomes with certain therapies. The Black Box
warning on Plavix (clopidogrel) is the result of my team’s research. I
also collaborated on several published research articles.
Prior to my healthcare positions, I
worked for Dun & Bradstreet and Chase. At D&B I developed
predictive models to identify high risk for business failure and business
fraud. For the business fraud detection model, I pioneered the use of
mathematical neural networks and also, at Chase, pioneered the use of neural
networks for credit card fraud detection.
Many of you may remember me for my
activities in music, including voice and composition. I graduated
from The Juilliard School in 1971 with a Bachelor of Music in Composition,
but I never pursued a musical career after that. I went right into
computer programming (where the demand and financial rewards were). To
further my business career, I earned an MBA from Baruch College in 1981 and a
PhD in Economics from CUNY Graduate Center in 1993. One of my music
compositions was used by Twyla Tharp in the early 1970’s for a performance in
Central Park.
Personal Life: First marriage
(1971-1980) to Jack Perricone ended in an amicable divorce after 9 years (we
still exchange holiday cards); my second marriage (1986-2010) to Paul
Garavaglia ended in his death (esophageal cancer); my third marriage
(2014-2020) to Roger Jones ended with his passing from complications of
diabetes and dementia. No children. I do keep my relationship with
Roger’s children and their families. I ended up with a history of four
surnames (Berger, Perricone, Garavaglia, and Jones). Advice to young
women: keep your birth certificate name as your surname for legal purposes
and use your “married” name for social situations if you wish. If you
have property that overlaps marriages, such as a car, house, or a Seiko watch
(remember that commercial?), it’s a major hassle to sell anything.
I am fortunate to remain in very good
health and have a good social network of friends and family. Warm
regards, Susan Berger Jones”
1966
Steve Shakin - “Reading about the Roslyn Country Club
brings back many memories. My family moved to Roslyn Heights (the S Section)
in 1952, and we were always members of the RCC. I spent many an afternoon
lying on a towel on the hard concrete behind the locker rooms. I remember the
food concession, run by a man with an accent named “Sam.” The club was owned
by a Mr. Hermanson. We used to sneak in at night to swim, and we were often
chased by his big Great Dane, named “Diablo.” We played a lot of tennis and
handball. I actually got married there in 1973. Still married. the RCC
was a great place.
1967
- Patricia Thurston Colgan - Deceased
Wildcat Survivors are Jeanette 1970,
Vincent 1973, Donna 1979, Michael 1979, and Nancy 1983
1968
(Lois Hegyi Goldstein) - Another ‘S Section’ Denizen.
Writes
Lois - “Hi Art, I want to remind Diana Noble
(1966) that she left out the Hegyi and Jacoby families on Shepherd Lane. Your
house was just down the block from us. The Jacoby house was right across the
street from the playground. I also have many fond memories of the RCC. Even
though I went to sleep-away camp, I still enjoyed my time at “the club.” My
sister met her husband there. He was an RCC lifeguard during the summer of
‘64. They are still together. Married 53 years.”
1968
- Sheli Nan Hershcopf - Concert Flyers and Musical Career
Writes
Shelley - I had many musical experiences at
Wheatley. Steven Saletan and I were the “pianists” chosen for all events. I
played the organ at assemblies. I wrote a musical and performed it solo at
Mr. Seiderman’s philosophy class. When the Blues Project played at the 1967
prom, after dancing up a storm I went and hung out with the band. When Dave
Van Ronk came and played for us I was in heaven, never realizing that
“Candyman’ was a song about heroin. My boyfriend and I went to many of Murray
the K’s shows in the city, and there was a rumor that he lived in our
neighborhood. My piano teacher, Vivian Rivkin, came out to teach me from
Juilliard. My life was full on music and continues to be.”
https://www.youtube.com/user/SheliNan
Composer Performer Teacher
Author
Shelinan.muse@gmail.com. www.SheliNan.com
1969
- Homer Smith - Deceased (Still no details
available at press time.)
1970
- Mitch Shapiro - Funny Man
Writes
Mitch - “Below is a link to my last Stand Up
opportunity back in October, when I flew in from New Orleans just to do
this….. I’m part of a documentary being edited now called “By Day, By Night,”
working to make people laugh…I am one of 5 comedians”
1973
- Lisa Buxbaum Rouff - “I hope that the following might be
worthy of inclusion in a future Wheatley Alumni Newsletter, even if it can't
compete with Murray the K……
For all the space fanatics in the
Wheatley World, we had a role in the recent Artemis mission and other launch
vehicle activities.
Prior to my retirement from Lockheed
Martin, Denver, in 2016, I spent 10 years on the Orion program. I retired as
the Systems Engineering Manager for the Avionics, Power, and Wiring System.
That meant that the team I led wrote the requirements, evaluated the designs,
and signed off on testing of all the equipment that contained electronics for
the Crew Module. In addition, I was a primary evaluator and integrator for
the avionics and software within the European Service Module. Watching
the Space Launch System (SLS) and Interim Cryogenic Propulsion System
(ICPS) do their jobs to get Orion into the right path for lunar orbit, and
then for Orion to perform its functions, was fantastic! What a great launch
and splashdown - a huge accomplishment for NASA and the country.
Here's a good video of highlights from
the mission: NASA
highlights Artemis 1 from launch to splashdown
Watching launches in person is also a
special event. On a Disney vacation 29 years ago, we were able to see the
final launch of an Atlas II from Jetty Park, Florida, with our then 4 and 6
year old daughters. They both remember the 1:50 am event. At that time I
didn't know that my career would take me to being the Software Integration
Leader for the first Atlas V, responsible for ensuring the flight, ground,
and facility software was specified, developed, and tested properly.
My husband and I traveled to Cape
Canaveral for the first Orion test flight (EFT-1), and we enjoyed that
launch from the causeway at the Cape.
The Wheatley School contributed to my
love of Mathematics, which was my major at the University of PA. That
was followed by four years at Raytheon in Bedford, MA as a programmer on a
ground system for the Army. Then a move to Denver and to Martin Marietta /
Lockheed Martin, where I worked on various ground, training, and space
systems for customers such as the military and NASA.
My husband and I, both retired, enjoy
time with our family, grandson included; travel; and more that the Denver
area has to offer.
1973 - Lauren Karasyk Oakley - With
Husband John Oakley (1973) and Carol Leifer (1974)
Writes Lauren - “I booked Carol Leifer
(comedian extraordinaire (1974)) to perform at our Valencia Bonita Clubhouse,
in Bonita Springs, Florida. She was absolutely fantastic.
L-R - John Oakley (1973),
Carol Leifer (1974), Lauren Karasyk Oakley (1973), Jeff Karasyk (1975)
L-R - John and Lauren Karasyk
Oakley with Carol Leifer at Molto (“plenty of”) Italian restaurant in Naples,
FL
Writes
Carol Leifer (1974) - “So nice to catch up with my high
school buds, Lauren (Karasyk) and John Oakley, here in Naples FL.😊
Now this is a really great love story - both in the same class growing up,
then fell in love at the Wheatley School reunion. I know it sounds like a
Hallmark Movie but it’s true.❤️❤️❤️
1976
- Ted Lipsky - “I grew up on Locust Lane at the bottom
of Saddle Lane right across from the RCC. The fact that the community allowed
the Club to deteriorate is another sign of apathy and not putting value on
what is truly important – COMMUNITY. I literally grew up at The Country Club,
beginning as a baby in the kiddie pool and being taught how to swim by Barry
Fox and my mom, who was a fixture at the club playing cards everyday in the
corner between the men’s locker room and the bathrooms, always having a clear
eye on the pool and where we were. By the time I was 6 I was already
competing on the swimming team with Nancy Weissman, and we had meets almost
every week at the Village Bath Club, the RCC, the Plandome Yacht Club, and
many others, and eventually I improved enough to compete at open meets in
Manorhaven, swimming butterfly and freestyle in the long course 50 meter
pool.
The RCC was the center of my universe
as a young boy learning the proper values of family, community, friendships
with people like Robin Firetog, Paul Katz, David Eysler, and way too many
others to name, and our RCC family as we were all family there looking out
for each other every single day, and having “credit” from the Fox’s at the
snack bar so I could eat each day. The RCC was so much more than a pool, a
tennis club, a snack bar, the Club House, the paddle ball courts /handball
courts, the makeshift basketball court behind the men’s locker room, and
climbing the fence by the corner of the paddle ball courts and tennis courts
to go down the hill through the woods to avoid walking through the parking
lot, which was way too far to walk! Seeing pictures of the club in its
present state of disrepair on Google Earth is heartbreaking to me. As Howard
Senft (1967) wrote, $100 was a steal. They should have started raising dues
back in the early 70s as the community became more affluent, but sadly people
were too interested in other meaningless things. I find it amazing that “The
Community” has not banded together to create a fund to fully renovate and
restore the club to all its glory, but I guess a McMansion and wealth is more
important today than family and community. Just another example of how low we
have sunk as a society.”
1979
Amy Gould Dinnerman - “Another S Section Family”
1982
- Richard Flach - Remembered by Edward B. (“Woody”) Ryder, 1973 - “How
profoundly sad to hear that Richard Flach passed away. My sympathies to his
family, particularly my classmate and friend of decades past, Michael Flach,
who along with his mother’s friendship with my own mother form a cherished
part of the catalog of memories of shared days past.”
1983
- Bernadette McCrave - Still in the Neighborhood
Writes
Bernadette - “Hi Art, I currently live in Mineola
in the house I grew up in while attending Wheatley. I have 3 children:
Grace graduated from Wheatley in 2021 and is now a sophomore at
SUNY Buffalo; Connor is in the 11th Grade; Casey is in the 9th grade.
My older son had Paul Paino as his baseball coach last year. Mr.
Paino taught me science in 9th grade. He retired after 38 years of coaching
baseball at Wheatley.
There are many of us Alumni
around in Mineola and surrounding areas within the East Williston school
district. As just one of many examples, I'm friends with Jonathan Gold
(1970).”
Fan Mail
Faculty
(Steve Ehre) - “Art: As always, your hard work is
greatly appreciated!”❤️
1959
(Beth Davidson) - “I enjoy the newsletters, and I
appreciate your dedication to keeping them coming.”
1960
(Paul Hennessy) - ❤️ - “This
89th edition of the Newsletter had some rather amazing tales, including the
fund-raising effort for a hurting alum (Michael Lorenzo, 1969) with a
classic alternative path story, and Murray the K's connection to the East
Williston School District. Thanks for all you do.”
1963
(Keith Aufhauser) - ❤️
1963
(Linda Samuels) - ❤️
1965
(Louise Kampa Triano) - ❤️
1966
(Susan Berger Jones) - “Thank you for your passion,
dedication, and Herculean efforts on behalf of Wheatley Alumni.”
1966
(Peter Siegel) - “Thanks for all the newsletters.”
1969
(Paul Ingrassia) - “Thanks for your updates on our old
friends and memories.”
1969
(Susan Shapiro) - ❤️ - “The
newsletters have been quite lively the last few issues. Fun to read!”
1970
(Jonathan Gold) - ❤️ - “The
Newsletters are special. I enjoy all of them.”
1972
(Jeffrey Kargman) - ❤️
1972
(Lillian Marazzo Anderson) - ❤️
1972
(Francine Mittelmark Granet) - ❤️
1973
(Lisa Buxbaum Rouff) - “I've enjoyed reading the Wheatley
Newsletters and appreciate your efforts to make that happen.”
1973
(Lauren Karasyk Oakley) - “I appreciate
your hard work.”
1973
(Michael Kramer) - “I enjoy the glimpses into
everyone's memories and experiences illustrated in the newsletter.”
1973
(Charlie Nash) - “Art, Please keep the news coming.”
1973
(James Pangarliotas) - ❤️
1973
(Mindy Silverstein Levy) - ❤️
1974
(Joyce Comito Friedman) - ❤️
1974
(Robert Gordon Kalb) - “Greetings and thanks for all your
efforts on behalf of the Wheatley School Community.”
1976
(Robin Hegyi Sisskind) - ❤️
1976
(Ted Lipsky) - “Thank you for sending these
newsletters out! They make my day.”
1976
(Michelle Mitchell) - ❤️
1981
(Raul “Ralph” Fernandez) - “I enjoy
receiving and reading your Newsletters because I still cherish my time at
Wheatley and the friends I made there.”
1983
(Bernadette McCrave Quinn) - “The Newsletter
is great.”
1999
(Beth Caporaso) - ❤️
Closing
That’s it for The Wheatley School
Alumni Association Newsletter # 89. Please send us your autobiography
before someone else sends us your obituary.
Closing
That’s it for The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 87. Please send us your autobiography before someone else sends us your obituary.
Art
Arthur Fredericks Engoron, Class of 1967
WHEATLEYALUMNI@AOL.COM
ARTENGORON@GMAIL.COM
WWW.WHEATLEYALUMNI.ORG
646-872-4833
