P.A. 1964
Tom Seligson
15 Bradley Street
Westport, Ct. 06880
May, 2002

As those of you on the listserve already know, a number of us had the privilege this spring of visiting our classmate in the Oval Office. The gathering was a year in the making - a follow-up to the legendary "Bush Bash" that brought a record number of P.A. classmates to Washington. Those of us who had helped organize the event - L.E. Sawyer, Nat Semple, Randy Elkins, Sean Kennedy, Alan Wofsey and yours truly represented the class in bearing our Inaugural gifts for the new President. Knowing George's special fondness for Tom Lyons, we included our esteemed teacher in the group. A number of our Washington based classmates - Bob Cheek, Steve Kroll, David "Howie" Reines were also able to join us, along with my former roommate Jim Lockhart, and Clay Johnson, both of whom, of course, work for George. Some of the highlights of our memorable experience can be found in the accompanying column. What I wish to emphasize here is that no classmate should feel left out. Part of our mission was to arrange a return visit for all of us. And we succeeded. The President has agreed to host the entire class at a picnic/stickball game on the South Lawn. Plans are already underway to organize this for next year. So you'll all soon share in the thrill of a private White House visit.

Other class news comes from e-mail notes I've received. Steve Burbank wrote me from Urbino, Italy, where he was teaching a two week course on American legal procedure to Italian graduate students. Steve is still a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. "I have the best job in the world," he says, "teaching and writing about the law, having time to affect legal development through work with law reform groups, and even enough time to supplement my income through consulting. I live in Philadelphia within walking distance of the law school, and manage to spend about four months a year at my other house in Wellfleet on Cape Cod, which is a good thing since my wife retired last year and much prefers Wellfleet to Philadelphia. Our son, Peter, is quite severely handicapped, but we have a found a wonderful program that is helping him learn independent living skills." Steve retired from the Andover Board of Trustees in 1997, after twenty years, and the only classmate he stays in touch with is fellow Philadelphian Sean Kennedy. But he hopes to attend our 40th reunion, and maybe he'll join us on the White House lawn even before that.

Dave Walker is also enjoying his work. Dave is still in the Geology Department at Columbia. "My research is in high pressure, high temperature physical chemistry of geological and related technical materials," he writes. "My teaching, besides the usual collection of geology courses, includes one on energy resources for graduate students in Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs. I got into this through having done research on nuclear waste disposal over the years." Dave lives in the Hudson River town of Piermont, which is within biking distance of Columbia's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, where he spends most of his time. "The last of my 3 kids has entered college, and I can happily report that there is life after the kids are gone." Dave stays in touch with Bob Wei, who lives nearby, and Ken Gass. I know, via Ken's e-mail to Dewolf Fulton, that Ken has a pediatric practice in Bellingham, Washington, and has a daughter in college, and a 14 year old son. By the time you read this, Dewey's "Eco-Action 2002" will have been a huge success. Hope I saw you there.