MIT Class of 1963, Class Notes for the September/October
2006 issue of Technology Review
*Steve Gorad is still in NYC working in a law office in the Chrysler Building, and living just a block away. "Not quite my usual style," Steve wrote, ".... but here I am!" I spoke recently with *Tony Geisler, who I can always count on for some news for this column. Tony told me about an important event in his life. Tony was raised in an environment that was mostly without religion. Recently he and his wife, Dee, have been attending the Episcopal Church in the Northern California community of Diablo where they live. On this past April 15, his birthday, Tony was baptized. He told me that date has multiple significances – it is, of course, the day we render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's (the IRS in this case). It is the day on which Abraham Lincoln died – he was shot on April 14, but he died on the 15th. It is the day the Titanic sank – the Titanic struck the iceberg late on April 14, but sank on the 15th. It is the day Tony became eligible for Medicare. Tony says he was born and reborn on the same day.
In mid-May, *Bob Kurtz and Barbara and I and another 1959 high school graduate went back to our school in the Bronx. I met Barbara in our senior American History class there during our senior year. We've been involved for almost 20 years with a scholarship program for graduating seniors that honors a high school classmate of ours whose field of study was physics and the history of science. Each year between 10 and 20 seniors write an essay about a scientist who is no longer living. The focus is on the things that shaped the scientist as a person, not on the science. A group of alumni from our class reads and ranks the essays and the winner gets a small (compared to today's college costs!) stipend. It's a nice connection between alumni of the 1950's and present day students at the Bronx High School of Science. At lunch after the visit Bob gave me an update on what's new in his life. That morning Bob had attended a benefit breakfast for the New York Health & Hospitals Corporation, a public-private partnership that New York's Mayor Bloomberg has put together to raise supplement funds for the city's public hospitals. The goal is to improve the quality of care at the public hospitals until it equals and exceeds the levels of care at local private hospitals. The results have been impressive; at this point, many measures show care in the public hospitals exceeds care in the private hospitals. As I mentioned in the class notes some while ago, Bob is a trauma surgeon at Kings County Medical Center in Brooklyn. Last year he was honored at this benefit breakfast, along with his star patient, Tricia Miley, also known as the Central Park Jogger. Bob's son, Michael, now in the 9th grade at Horace Mann High School, hasn't made the "college trip" yet. Bob says he's still paying off the notes for his daughters. Eldest daughter, Holly, who was a prize-winning reporter, is now a doctoral student in Educational Policy at the University of Colorado. Holly says she wants to be a contributor, not just an observer. Bob's twin daughters, Elizabeth and Amy, are both in the east. Elizabeth was a clerk in the federal district court in New Jersey and is now with a private law firm in the New York area. Amy is completing a doctorate in history at Yale. Bob's wife, Ketly, is in private practice in obstetrics and gynecology at Lennox Hill Hospital in New York.
Regards to all. Hope you are enjoying your summer. You can reach me at: Mike Bertin, 22 Gillman St, Irvine, CA 92612. E-mail: MCB1@aol.com. If you want to schmooze, call me at (949) 786-9450