We were pleased that 27 members of the class gathered in New Haven to celebrate 50 years since graduation. The group was remarkably vibrant, active, and full of stories of medicine, travel, grandchildren, and life in general.
The 27 stalwarts who graced New Haven with their presence were: Chuck Angell, Tom Ciesielski, Joe Cleary, Roger Cooke, Leo Cooney, Charles Dinarello, Doug Domoto, Ralph Falkenstein, Sandy Genser, Steve Herzberg, Paul Kelker, Rowena Korobkin, Steve Krant, Michael Liebowitz, Rob Marier, Paul Markey, Arnie Mazur, Ellen Milstone, Lionel Nelson, Tim Pedley, Deborah Putnam, Jody Robinson, Dave Schulak, Steve Webb, Carolyn Wells, Larry Yeatman, and Joe Rochford. In addition, Gracia Barry, widow of David, joined the group.
We greeted early arriving classmates at 333 Cedar Street on Friday afternoon. Saturday morning, we enjoyed the Dean’s State of the School address and the Association of Yale Alumni in Medicine annual meeting. We attended a number of educational sessions in the morning and early afternoon. We were also asked to report our thoughts on the Yale system by a group of Yale medical students and alumni who were videoing these perspectives in the Beaumont room area.
The weekend really started to take shape, however, at our 2:00 pm gathering in the Brady Auditorium, the setting was appropriate, as we had all sat through so many pathology lectures in that room. We relived the tumultuous 1960s and our experiences during that time, from the November 9, 1965, blackout through Vietnam, the McCarthy candidacy, Lyndon Johnson not seeking reelection, the assassination of Martin Luther King, anti-war demonstrators at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and the Apollo space craft orbiting around the moon. We had fond recollections of Harkness and evening dining room discussions, forgettable moments of the second-year show, and life in New Haven in the late 1960s. We remembered with fondness our professors including Tom Forbes, Ed Crelin, Dorothy Horstmann, Richard Weinerman, and the inimitable Averil Liebow. We also reminisced about such exemplary teachers as Thomas Detre, Alvan Feinstein, Phil Bondy, Elisha Atkins, Frank Epstein, and Gus Lindskog. We recalled the learning experiences of the Clinical Pathological Conferences and Saturday morning Medical Grand Rounds in Harkness Auditorium.
Saturday evening, we enjoyed a wonderful meal at the Union League restaurant, and extended conversations with multiple classmates and their spouses. We were later presented with our Kushlan Medallions by Dean Alpern. As is our tradition, we passed the microphone around to report on members of the class who missed the reunion.
Sunday morning, we were treated to a sumptuous brunch at the home of Ellen Milstone. Our last conversations in Ellen’s back yard were an appropriate finale to a wonderful weekend of renewing old friendships and appreciating our years at Yale.
-- Submitted by Leo Cooney and Ellen Milstone