Thursday, December 18, 2008
The 2008 Reunion Newsletter is here!
Monday, November 10, 2008
A short message from Susan Samuels
I can't believe that it is almost five months from our reunion - one I'll never forget. I also can't forget all the people I've seen once again, and those I promised I'd stay in touch with.
Sadly, prior to the reunion, my mother was diagnosed with brain cancer. The past months have been difficult. I want to apologize for not staying in touch sooner with those who I promised I would. I'm not sure when, but I will, in the near future, keep that promise.
PS: To those who signed my lab coat, in honor of Mr. Golden, thank you.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Some changes to our blog - commenting and posting
I hope this post finds all of you well and enjoying the fruits of your summer! With vacations and other summer obligations (along with family and work, of course) I know that all of you are busy and may not have time to catch up with our blog or your emails. Either way, know that I am thinking of all of you and that I am still basking in the glow of our great reunion.
After reading Steve Rosen's latest post inquiring as to everyone's whereabouts, along with receiving a brilliant suggestion (and lovely note) from our classmate Lisa Persky, I felt it necessary to change our blog settings to allow for more of a dialogue amongst our classmates. Up until today, the blog's administrators had to invite individuals to become authors in order to post and make comments to the blog. As you know, those who did not accept the invitation were able to read the blog but could not post a topic or comment to it, while others that did could post and comment. This was done to avoid spam and any unwanted commentary from those that were not a part of A&D.
In her email to me today, Lisa suggested that the blog settings be changed to allow for "anyone" - outsiders included - to comment to the blog. This means that those of you that do not wish to actually post to it can comment to the various posts that are made there, or if you have a post but don't want to be an author, can send your notes to administrators so that they can post it on your behalf. To avoid spam and other nonsense, all comments will have to be approved. Since I am not certain if the other administrators can be added to the approval list simultaneously with me, I have listed my email address for this purpose in the settings. I will receive a notice from this site indicating that comments have to be approved. Those from A&D classmates will be approved, but those from outsiders won't be (especially if inappropriate), and unless they are from other graduates that happen upon us or other interested parties. (I am still thinking about that, but I digress). As an avid internet user, I check all my blogs and emails regularly so all comment requests will be approved immediately, unless I am out of town or temporarily unavailable.
If any of you do wish to write to the blog as "authors", please click on my profile to send me a request to post. Once I get it I will invite you. Typically, the invitation will come from "no-reply@google.com You have been invited to contribute to________ ." To post, you will have to create a google account, unless you already have one.
I truly hope that all of you will be interested in commenting to the blog or posting to it. Our class is a unique and magical one, as has been apparent at our last two reunions, and that magic has generated many wonderful and vibrant reconnections for all of us. When I think that most of us were out of touch for 35 years but instantly reconnected at the reunion "as if we never left", I find myself touched by the bond we all so obviously share. Our blog serves as a means to continue to foster that bond, as well as to keep our classmates up to date on all news. I, for one, feel it important that each one of us posts and comments to keep that energy alive and vibrant.
Please don't be shy!
I wish all of you a wonderful summer and I send love,
Pina
Monday, July 7, 2008
Where Are You?
I understand that everyone is busy. I myself have just published a new book -- a book that speaks to two subjects I'm quite passionate about: spirituality and music. The book is called "The Yoga of Kirtan: Conversations on the Sacred Art of Chanting." It's a 504-page labor of love, with an attached 70-minute CD of wild spiritual music. Check it out: www.yogaofkirtan.com.
Go to the "events" page and you'll see that I've been spending my time promoting my new baby. So I've been busy too. But it doesn't take me too far adrift to type a few words to express how I felt about the reunion, and to let you all know what I've been doing. I hope you'll all write in and do the same. All the best. Saprem! --Steve Rosen
Some more thoughts about our 2008 reunion
It was nice to see Irwin Greenberg, Max Ginsburg and Marcia Arnold - three of our favorite teachers. Their presence helped validate how important our class of 1973 has been. A lot of the activity was around the "yearbook" and scanning tables - where attendees could reserve their lost yearbook copy and submit pictures for us all to share, and even add to the yearbook. We have loads of thanks to give Laurie Moss Fried and her husband Alan for this. In addition, Lori Halpern Miroddi single-handedly found many of our classmates, thus playing an crucial role in bringing us together on 6/22.
I have received so many e-mails saying thank you for the hard work in creating such a reunion. In reality, the thanks go to all of you - who traveled from afar, to keep our friendships from fading. I feel that my efforts were an honor and privilege rather than work, dwarfed by the powerful sense of solidarity and closeness I felt. Seeing all of you together made my efforts an absolute pleasure.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Thoughts on 6.22
It was mind boggling as I sat at the scanning table with my husband Alan and the loose photos, albums, envelopes, boxes, illustrations, news clippings, programs & buttons started coming our way. At the end of the day Alan scanned over 200 items. The scanning was continuous and did not stop until 4 o'clock. Thank you Jay Pearlman, Valerie Williams, April Rogers, Tony Biggs, Deborah Lary, Despina, Gina Minori McNally, Jan Cohn, Lori Halpern Miroddi, Nancy Frankel, Omar Cassayo, Peter Kruse, Renee Yurkiw Apostolos, Bobby Pesson, Robin Zane, Berna Donlon, Rhonda Goldman Sussman, Fran Edelson-Rybek, Scott Remackle, Terry Fuchs, Tom Masaryk & Tom Sito for your contributions. We'll post the photos soon and make them available for all to access.Sunday, June 22, 2008
Late Night Reflections - A Post-Reunion Reverie
And finally, I don't know about all of you, but being with everyone has brought me "home" again in a way I can't adequately articulate at the moment. It was a kind of restorative elixir for me that I know I will savor throughout the year, just as I did last year after our first reunion. Reuniting and reconnecting with my classmates has further restored my memories of such a special time in my life, which has touched me enormously. There, standing with my camera in hand, I watched all of you and realized that our years at A&D forged an unbreakable bond that has withstood the test of time. In speaking with many of you I felt as if we picked up where we left off, which was amazing! (Trust that I do not say this about most of my former college classmates as there was no bond, save for the friendships I made there.) Despite the lack of a yearbook, the fact that many of us did not attend the prom or that we had our first reunion 34 years after the fact, the Class of 1973 is a special one. I am honored to be a part of it and of knowing all of you.
Thank you for being a part of my life, then and now.
Pina
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Conversation with Sam Santiago

This week I had the pleasure of a terrific email exchange with our fellow classmate Sam Santiago. Regrettably, Sam will be unable to join us on June 22 as he will be embarking on his own personal journey in relocating in Europe. As Sam put it, "to get my Bohemian on...to allow my personal growth as an artist...". Sam plans to start off in Cork, Ireland connecting with The Backwater Art Group. Other travels will include Amsterdam and of course Spain. "My ancestors came to America (Spain, Mexico, and Puerto Rico) to find opportunity...here I am turning back for the same reasons".
I am in awe of the huge plunge Sam is taking and want to wish him all the luck in the world. You can leave your best wishes for Sam as well on our blog. Bon Voyage Sam!!
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Accommodations for 6/21
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
The invitations are out!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Our Reunion is Approaching!
But there's more! We'll have a chance to place orders for our lost 1973 yearbook - brought back to life from hard work and preserved original mechanicals. All the poetry, artwork, photos and narrative - restored to a bound treasure.

Sunday, February 17, 2008
Conversations with our graduates
I ask everyone I find the same basic questions:
What was your major at A&D?Did you go to college and where?major?
What jobs have you had?What are you doing now?
I also ask personal questions,like are you married?how long?kids?
I'm nosy.I'd say most were happy to spill the beans.
To date,I've spoken on the phone to 78 people!
Here are some interesting stats:
43 are married,almost 50% for over 20 years!I find that heartening in this day and age.
16 haven't found the right person yet,5 are divorced,and 4 have deceased spouses.
Only 18 are working in the art field.Most of the 78 people started out in the art business and ended up in totally different fields.There's a couple of lawyers,a pediatrician,quite a few teachers,2 restauranteurs, a handful of psychiatric social workers,a postal worker and a FEDEX guy!
Some are searching for a new direction after ending long careers.
What they all have in common are wonderful memories of A&D,and excited anticipation for our 35th reunion in June!
The hunt for grads continues.........If anyone has any leads,email me at miroddi@aol.com
There are still many who are proving difficult to find!
Lori Halpern Miroddi
Monday, January 21, 2008
A Small World

Richard Gordon met Helaine Seidman at Camp Wel-Met in Narrowsburg, New York in the late 60's when they were about 12.
They even appeared in the big year end musical "The Sound of Music" as kids together. Both from Queens, they met years later at The High School of Art & Design, dated and remain friendly. They lost contact until Richard transferred from Hunter College in Manhattan to Queens College, where he reconnected with Helaine. Richard became an entertainment publicist handling numerous Broadway, movie and TV celebrities and Helaine pursued an acting career.
After a few years of no communication, they met on a bus on the Upper East side, where they both lived. Richard on 70th and Second Avenue and Helaine on 72 and Third. Richard set up Helaine, now Hunter, with her first manager & over the years lost touch. A few years later they ended up moving to Los Angeles to pursue their careers and without knowing, moved across the street from each other and reconnected once again. Richard introduced Helaine to her next manager, the woman who also handled his client Delta Burke from "Designing Women".
While performing on a cruise ship, Helaine met her husband Paul Smith and eventually moved to Florida, where Richard's family lived. They lost touch for another few years to later find out that Helaine and her husband moved to Las Vegas Nevada, where Richard booked his celebrity clients like Lainie Kazan, Connie Stevens, Carol Lawrence into a Casino near to where Helaine lived. Last year Richard's entire family moved to Las Vegas about ten blocks from where Helaine's parents moved in Sun City months later.
Helaine is a family therapist now & has offices within walking distance to Richard's mothers house. Small World. Helaine and Paul moved into a gorgeous estate in Vegas and Richard is in West Hollywood, California and visits quite often. Small World after 40 years, ugh?
Richard was sad to hear about the passing of friends like Peter Sariego and Ben Friedman. He was happy to see his dream come true (of about over 30 years) of starting the fire for our 2007 Reunion, and is so appreciative to Joe, Laurie, Pina and all the others who helped coordinate our first reunion this past summer. Richard keeps in touch with Karen Weiner Turkel, Rhonda Goldman Sussman (who visited him a few months ago) Laurie Beck, Fran Edelman & now Joe Notovitz & Laurie Moss. He'd love to reconnect with Rhonda Greenblatt Smith, Adele Sheiff, Vicki & Valerie Aarons and a few others from the Class of '73. He did find out that brilliant artist, A+D alumni Michael Yurchak, is still living on East 86th Street with his family and has had serious problems over the years.
Send him an email at: RichardGordonPR@aol.com if you remember him and HelaineHunter@aol.com if you would like to contact her.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Who remembers the 50's Sock Hop?
Gary Brumberg sent me these "Golden Oldies" from the 50's Sock Hop. That's Adele Scheff and Helaine Seidman doing the Lindy. In the group shot top row- I cannot identify the 3 people on the left. But Ben Freeman is in the tank top, Adele Scheff, Valerie Aarons, Peter Sarego, tiny back head (?), Steven Cohen, Vicki Aarons& Loni Cohen. Front row:
Laurie Moss and Richard Gordon.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Sharing-Sherwood Martinelli In Heyoka Magazine
- Sherwood Martinelli is on the Board of directors of FUSE USA and is in a legal battle with the Indian Point nuclear power plant to stop its relicensing. He has almost 20 years of experience in taking on large polluters, and the utility industry. As founder of Save Wills Creek Water Resources Committee, played instrumental roll in seeing a $70 Million clean up of the Shieldalloy site in Ohio, including remediation of over 200 radioactively contaminated homes. As founder of the Guernsey County American Free Tree, he distributed over 400,000 trees to local schools and civic groups. Sherwood has a blog at the link below. [ www.greennuclearbutterfly.com ].
Sherwood Martinelli, Vice President of FUSE USA is featured in the latest edition of Heyoka Magazine.Read the article: http://heyokamagazine.com/HEYOKA.9SherwoodMartinelli.2.htm
Monday, October 1, 2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant - Our Honorary Classmate Fights Relicensure
As a general rule, I am a quiet environmental activist that prefers to work behind the scenes in facilitating changes in our lives that ultimately will benefit our children and our children's children. It's not something I talk about all that much and may surprise a number of my friends from A&D when they read this information. As a member of our class I like to keep our blog updated on things each one of us is doing that correlates to our lives in the past, present and the future, be it with regard to our work, our children and our families. In that vein, and without getting into the pros and cons of the following news, I share some important news with you where it affects Sherwood and the work he does behind the scenes for the environmental and antinuclear community.
Those of you who know Sherwood - or most certainly have come to know him during the weeks we were preparing the reunion - know that at one point in his life he was a considerably well-known and successful potter on the craftshow circuit and owned his own pottery company, which he sold in 1997 in favor of other pursuits in life. You know him as an individual who is an expert event planner on the retail level, especially when it came to setting up craft shows and multiple tents, that givingly devoted much of his time and energy to our reunion. But what few know about him is this: he is a committed environmental activist. During his years in Ohio (and long before he met me) Sherwood was the founder of the Save Wills Creek Water Resources Committee, and played a significant role in ensuring a $70 Million clean up of the Shieldalloy site in Ohio, including remediation of over 200 radioactively contaminated homes.
Since December 2006, Sherwood has been working diligently on preventing the relicensing of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant located in Buchanan, NY, which is a scant three miles from our home. When I moved here 12 years ago few people mentioned that there was a nuclear power plant here, and if they did, I didn't think about it. I had other issues on my mind. Sherwood, who is vastly familiar with the NRC and other related energies, has been focusing his attentions on preventing this relicensure because there are significant problems with the plant that will prove to be significantly dangerous to all of us who live within a 50 mile radius from Buchanan.
On Friday, September 21, Sherwood and his group FUSE USA were able to file their contentions with the NRC and secured an extension for other documents that had to be filed. A press release was distributed to the news media and on Saturday 9/22 and Sunday 9/23 Sherwood and his group were interviewed by Matthew Wald for an article about this subject. This was published in the Monday, 9/24/07 B Section of the New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/24/nyregion/24nuke.html?_r=1&ref=nyregi...&oref=slogin
Since then a publicist has been hired and additional papers have picked up the article. Please see the links that follow:
http://www.newstimeslive.com/news/updates.php?id=1186571702&source=news_updates
http://www.mmdnewswire.com/nucler-wtchdog-alleges-more-violtis-t-indin-point-2264.html
We hope that you will read about this important news, and I thank you for allowing me to share it with you. I am very proud.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Greetings and Photos from Jeff Buckland
As for Sherwood and I, all is well in our humble neck of the woods even though we are both hugely busy in our lives. Our summer was the absolute BEST! We spent most of our summer traveling and spending time with friends (including a fantastic and memorable 4 day visit over the July 4th holiday with Vickie Aarons Bligh and Valerie Aarons Farrell at their home in L.I., courtesy of the reunion - more on that later, after I upload our photos from that great visit!), family members, and other personal friends from the various periods of our lives. Spending time with our friends and family was very life affirming for us both and we are still relishing in the memories we shared with every one.
The most relaxing, chill-inducing part? In early July, just after we spent a weekend camping with my older brother, Sherwood and I stumbled upon a fantastic (and well maintained) campground in Greenfield Park, NY, which is a scant 5 miles from Ellenville, NY. The day after we found the place we purchased a gorgeous camp trailer (my tent camping days are over!), signed up to become "seasonal" campers, and off we went! We spent virtually every weekend there (and during my vacations) free of home telephones, cell phones and emails. It was, simply put, the best place for us to be....together. I haven't been this relaxed in eons!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Bronx Girls Brunch

On Sunday September 9, Susan Chunovitz Assaban, Lori Halpern Mirrodi & Laurie Moss Fried met at the Fried house to reconnect and reminisce about not just our Art and Design days but our days in the Bronx going back to Pleasantville Day Camp and a few years we spent at PS 95! Our classmate Denise Nahmias Balcanoff could not make it due to illness. We hope for another mini reunion this year and invite fellow Bronx girls to join us.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
What a trip! I've been enjoying all this. I was blown away by the faculty pix. Those old familiar faces: some rekindling fond memories, some stirring a creepy feeling. It's all been like getting back a piece of me that was lost out there somewhere. Wish I could've have seen some of you at the reunion. There's always next year. Kudos to all who have put this together.
— Josie
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Do you remember the A & D faculty?
Monday, July 16, 2007
Simply Bedazzled
In other words, Steve's a pretty cool guy. I knew it back then and I know it now.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
About that photo with Chrissie . . .
I just got off the phone with Ellen Greenstein Campeas, and she was bedazzled by the photo with Chrissie Hynde (below). A Pretenders fan from way back (well, given our 34-year-parameter, it's not that far back . . .), she wanted to know the extent of my friendship with the Pretender's icon.In fact, it goes pretty deep. Here's the short version: It was fall, 1992, and we met backstage at the Garden -- it was Bob Dylan's 30th anniversary concert. (This is a long story in itself.) She told me how much she liked my first book, which was on vegetarianism and the world religions, and we became fast friends. Some years later, she wrote the foreword for my book, Holy Cow (which she's promoting in the picture on our blog). We kept in touch by phone. A couple years back, she wanted me to write her autobiography -- as her ghost writer. So she flew me out to London (where she's lived for the last 20 years) several times and we worked together for weeks at a clip -- the book is now on the back-burner, but we had a great time. We went to every vegetarian restaurant in town and hung out with some of my childhood heroes -- her close friends -- including Jeff Beck, who stayed up with us for an entire evening watching Curb Your Enthusiasm reruns and talking Eastern philosophy. Life is grand!
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Featured Alumni – Steve Rosen – Author, Lecturer, Specialist, Advocate

His best-selling books include Krishna’s Song (offering Westerners an easy-to-read introduction to Krishna’s sacred text), Essential Hinduism (unraveling the complexities of the Hindu Religion), Black Lotus (the biography of H.H. Bhakti Tirtha Swami), and twenty other titles are on sale throughout the world.Oh, by the way, this is how you remember Steve:













