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CL AS S NO TE S


their second son, Jubemi Emilio, last August. Auntie Eugenia Lantigua Tavar - ez ’01 and uncle Robert Tavarez ’00 re - joiced after meeting him. Matthew Sloane is the author of Tulie’s


’96


Garden, his personal exploration of what it means to be male—especially as it re - lates to emotional vulnerability and au - thenticity. He also illustrated the book, which has been hailed by Challenge Day youth-empowerment movement cofounder Rich Dutra-St. John as “a road map for every man seeking connection and full expression.” Orders, author podcasts, and a video are at matthewsloane.com. Sarah Donovan Douglass, associate


pro fessor of philosophy at Wagner Col - lege since 2003, received the institution’s Excellence in Service award in November. Brandon Feldman is athletics director at Emory University’s Oxford College. Last year he coached the women’s tennis team to its first National Junior College Athletic Association Division III championship title; he led the men’s tennis team to three NJCAA titles, in 2006, 2007, and 2009. Brandon was named NJCAA Coach of the Year following each of his four champi- onship seasons and was also the Intercol - legi ate Tennis Association’s Coach of the Year in 2007. A former tennis pro (and co- captain of the T’breds in his student days), he earned a master’s in exercise physiolo- gy from the University of Miami and also coached tennis at Wash ing ton College. Max Hjortsberg’s book of poetry Bonnie


& Clyde (An American Daydream) has gar- nered critical acclaim for its exploration of the title couple’s journey from hard- scrabble obscurity to outlaw celebrity. After his history major, Max studied geo- graphic information systems and cartogra- phy at Penn State. A mapmaker and water-resource specialist for an environ- mental consulting firm in Livingston, MT, he has had poetry published in The Big Sky Journal. Check out errantpoet.com. ANN MARIE PRZYWARA 45 CASTLEWOOD DRIVE SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866-5823 APRZYWAR@SKIDMORE.EDU


’97


Allison Gray Costa and hus-


band Crist welcomed new daughter Camille on November 22; she joins proud and doting brothers Inman, 7, and Hollis, 5. Alli - son, a freelance


Juleyka Lantigua Williams and husband Ayotunde welcomed


writer and restaurant critic, has started her own business, Ventura Food Tours. Allyson Montana and Nate Hill were married in 2010. They welcomed son Owl August last July. The family lives in Cali - for nia’s Santa Cruz Mountains. Darcy Misurelli Ogada, a conservation biologist, is in Kenya as the Peregrine Fund’s assistant director for Africa pro- grams. The November Science News covered her research suggesting that a decrease in vultures (many die after feeding on pesti- cide-poisoned lion carcasses) leaves more carrion for feral dogs and other scavengers that spread rabies and more diseases. Books by romance novelist Jean Stone, UWW, have been reissued by Random House as part of its e-book program. Sins of Innocence, First Loves, and Ivy Secrets are now available in digital format. Our 15th reunion is just around the cor-


ner, May 31 to June 3! For details on reg- istration, housing, and a schedule of activi- ties, visit skidmore.edu/reunion. The Class of 1997 needs a scribe! If you


are interested in this role, contact class notes editor Mary Monigan at mmonigan@ skidmore.edu or call 800-584-0115. ALUMNI AFFAIRS OFFICE SKIDMORE COLLEGE 815 N. BROADWAY SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866


Becca Rozell Murray and hus- band Brady live in San Francisco, CA, where Becca dances with the Dance Ceres company. She also choreographs and teaches dance. In March she pre- miered her newest work at the Dance Mission Theatre, along with other pieces performed by Dance Ceres and Weber Dance, a Boston-based company she for- merly danced with. Erin Poll Blankenship and husband John welcomed daughter Audrey on October 28. Erin lived in California and Montreal before moving to Seattle, where she has been for three years. Kamila O’Neill Cass, a licensed clinical psychologist, lives in Albuquerque, NM, with her husband and three children. Meg Obenshain has lived in Paris, France, for 14 years and “can’t seem to leave.” She’s been working for an Ameri can headhunting company there since 2010. MICHELE ROTHSTEIN 1030 HIGHLAND LAKE CIRCLE DECATUR, GA 30033 MDROTHSTEIN@GMAIL.COM


’98 MAY 31–JUNE 3 first child, Alice, on February 23, 2011. ’99 SPRING 2012 SCOPE 51


Stewart Goodbody Israni and husband Dave welcomed their


AT WORK Desert desperados I


’ve worn a lot of hats,” says writer Don Waters ’98. He’s been a publisher, environ- mental advocate, teacher, newspaper reporter, and elder-care worker—the job he credits for making him grow up. “I’ve learned a lot, which has been very good for my writing,” he says. Apparently, the critics agree, as Waters’s debut collection of short stories, Desert Gothic, won the Iowa Short Fiction Award in 2007. Born and raised in Reno, Nev., Waters sets his stories in bleak, sun- parched desert landscapes—per- fect metaphors for the inner des- iccation and starkness of his characters’ lives. He deftly captures the quiet despera- tion and outlaw nature of the resi- dent and transient


misfits, loners, and oddballs that populate the out-of-the-way corners of the American West. His attention to detail makes Waters’s prose


come alive, especially when dealing with death. His cold-eyed accounting of the ceremonies and procedures surrounding death and cremation in “What to Do with the Dead” transports the reader inside the cool, grey walls of a mortuary. When a worker fires up the crematorium oven, one feels the heat on one’s face. In another story, Waters describes the self-crucifixion of an ultramarathon runner. At a pit stop along the punishing, 200-mile course, the protagonist describes with sparse detail the algedonic expe- rience of self-mutilation: “Quickly, pliers in hand, sucking carbohydrate gel from a tube, [I] rip out a toenail that’s turned completely black. Arousing shock waves echo through my chest.” Regularly appearing in literary magazines,


Waters also has an upcoming feature in Outside magazine. He is currently enjoying an Iowa Arts Fellowship, affording him time to concentrate on his writing. He’s also teaching undergraduates, as eventually he’d like to be both a writer and a professor. He and his fiancé, writer Robin Romm, live in Portland, Oreg. —Jon Wurtmann


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CREATIVE THOUGHT BENJAMIN ROBERTS


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