Neil McDermott's message this morning was a change from the
usual routine, including names of several people i occasionally
think about, some i haven't thought about in years, (some i
can't remember at all), and since i'm in touch with no one from
our class at summit high school (but occasionally some folks
from the year behind us, notably brian keith). I'm guessing,
but i assume like many of you, i was intrigued, wondering about
other than having email addresses (some at sites i could vaguely
identify) what are these people doing with their lives anyway?
So at the risk of eliminating the main source of conversation at
a reunion, i'd be interested in hearing from any of you about
what you're up to, any good gossip you've heard, etc.
To start (briefly) i'm married (since 1987) to a clinical social
worker (and hell of a person) who grew up in (gasp!) long island. we live in arlington, ma (which is
next to cambridge). I have twin five year old daughters who are
really a trip. Having daughters, I confess, makes me wonder
about raising girls, which sends me back to thinking about high
school and some of you on neil's list (hi toby hi tina) on
occasion i think about kathy reeves and wonder how she not only
put up with all the shit that people (boys and girls ) laid on
her and still managed to be a damn good athlete and an
outstanding student, particularly in fields where women have not
always excelled. someday i'll find her and get her advice on
raising girls though i imagine i'm pretty different than her
parents (who i don't remember)
wonder
as for work, i'm currently asst. director of the center for
state and local govt. at harvard's kennedy school of govt. some
administrative work and some research, primarily into
intersection of politics, infrastructure, and land use.
i'm currently writing a political history of boston's 8 billion
dollar highway/tunnel project.
prior to coming here via the
kennedy school's master's program i was a
local journalist for about seven years. so i suppose all those
temper tantrums i threw in front of the summit nj school
committee were good training.
as for gossip, i don't have much, of all the people i knew in
summit, the only one i stay in touch with is brian keith who was
in the class behind ours. he lived near us for several years
while doing a post doc and he and i occasionally chat via
email. he and his wife are both junior faculty at the
university of chicago. i was, for a while, also in touch with
jake levine (who was neil and my heart's partner for many years)
he is also in chicago where he dropped out of college
became a computer wonk for a firm that was quite successful
selling maps and geographic info to folks in the health care
field. for a long time i also was in touch with lynda (younger sister of karen) winslow who was in
the bay area doing stuff i didn't understand with computers and
phtotography. but i've lost touch with both of them.
more in passing, a few years ago i was sitting in my office when, of all
people, maggie whelan (remember her?) appears. she was here as
a student and recognized my name. she's some sort of high
powered republican politico. we actually had a couple of nice
lunches together.
and several years while working on a project about
growth management in new jersey (now there's an oxymoron) run
into rebecca sindon's mother at a conference. (if i recall,
toby, she said you were a journalist type)
and many years before that i crossed paths with erin geddis who
was doing pr work for one of the big boston hospitals (she was
as nice a person as she always was).
there wasn't that more than you should know?
i'd be curious to hear more about what any of you are up to and
what you know about other folks with whom we shared our troubled
adolescence
david