Class Notes

Christopher Russell (Engr ’15) published his first epic fantasy novel, Divinity’s Twilight: Rebirth, with Morgan James Publishing. Steampunk meets sword and sorcery meets military thriller in this gripping tale with layered characters, deep world-building, and a lurking cosmic conflict that will upend everything the people of Lozaria know and cherish. Read on for the full teaser, then look for the novel online and in-stores everywhere on Sept. 22, 2020. 

Full Teaser:

A world consumed by war . . .

When two blades clash, the third will fall, and the fate of all will be jeopardized. To save Lozaria, the failures of the past must be atoned for by a new generation of heroes. The time has come for mortals to cast off sight and, in doing so, truly come to see . . .

Victory is never absolute.
 

            Seven centuries ago, the forces of order won the Illyriite War on the plains of Har’muth.  Darmatus and Rabban Aurelian slew their elder brother, Sarcon, the despotic architect of the conflict, then sacrificed themselves to banish the cataclysmic vortex opened with his dying breath. The first advent of the Oblivion Well was thwarted. Even without their vanished gods, the seven races of Lozaria proved themselves capable of safeguarding their world. 
            Or so the story goes. 
            The year is now 697 A.B.H (After the Battle of Har’muth). Though war itself remains much the same, the weapons with which it is waged have evolved. Airships bearing powerful cannons ply the skies, reducing the influence of mages and their spells. Long range communication has brought far flung regions of Lozaria closer than ever before. At the center of this technological revolution are the three Terran states of Darmatia, Rabban, and Sarconia, who have fought a near ceaseless campaign of 700 years in an attempt to best each other. The roots of their enmity lie buried beneath the wasteland of Har’muth, a place all three nations consider best forgotten. 
                However, an ancient power sealed within Har’muth has not forgotten them, and the descendants of those who fought on that field must now take a stand to rectify the mistakes of the past. 

“Rebirth is the beginning of a story that has all the potential to go far and fly very high.​” ~Author and Blogger Abel Montero

“Like Tolkien’s classic ‘Lord of the Rings’ series, Christopher Russell creates a complex, epic fantasy and world which is rich in detail, strong characterization, and a heroic quest that leads a myriad of players into uncharted waters .” ~D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

Casey English Bartok (Com ’99 CM), audit partner with KPMG, was selected as office managing partner for the firm’s Birmingham, Alabama office. In her new role, Casey will be responsible for the strategic direction and growth of the Birmingham office as well as ensuring KPMG Birmingham remains a great place to work and build a career for its professionals.

Col. John D. Pavlovsky (Engr ’69 CM) (ret) has been recognized by the American Volkssport Association for completing 10km walking events in each of 50 state capitals and Washington, D.C.  

David Stanford Burr (Col ’77, Grad ’81 CM) recently published Ledger Domain, his debut full-length collection of poems, an autobiography with a license in legerdemain. Burr is the author of The Poet’s Notebook: Inspiration, Techniques, and Advice on Craft as well as editor of seven hardcover, poetry-themed anthologies. He is a managing editor at St. Martin’s/Macmillan, one of the “Big Five” trade book publishers, currently in his 35th year, and for 24 years, as adjunct associate professor, he taught courses in book publishing as well as poetry writing workshops at New York University’s School of Professional Studies, Center for Applied Liberal Arts. He is compiling a second collection of poems, and a third focuses on the British infantry mired in the trenches on the Western Front during the Great War. David and his wife, Joan, live in Maplewood, New Jersey, with their daughter, Lauren, a newly degreed engineer.

NB: author photo credit: ©Creighton: Courtesy of NYU Photo Bureau

Kate Lipper-Garabedian (Col ’03) won a special election in March to become a Massachusetts state representative. She was sworn in by the governor in the first-ever physically distanced oath of office on the grand staircase of the State House. Lipper-Garabedian was previously the chief legal counsel at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Education and a city councilor in Melrose, Massachusetts. She is running unopposed for a full term this fall. 

Jeffrey Clark (Col ’77 CM) has retired from practicing dentistry. He will divide his time between homes in Roanoke and Topping, Virginia.

George Hodges-Fulton (Col ’98) became a professional EOS Implementer in 2019, and he owns 123Traction. In this role, Hodges-Fulton works with leadership teams of companies in a variety of industries to implement the Entrepreneurial Operating System, also known as Traction. EOS is a comprehensive set of simple concepts and practical tools that has helped entrepreneurs worldwide get what they want from their businesses by instilling focus, discipline, and accountability throughout the company, with all team members working toward a shared vision for the company’s future. Hodges-Fulton is a former principal of BOWA in McLean, Virginia, and former COO of Kane Landscapes in Sterling, Virginia.

John Attanasio’s (Col ’76 L/M) book, Politics and Capital: Auctioning the American Dream was the subject of an article published on Forbes.com on April 29, 2020.

The article by Lawrence Carrel, Rising Income Inequality is Direct Result of Campaign Finance Cases, concerned the relationship between the campaign-finance cases, the enormous rise in U.S. income inequality, and the coronavirus crisis. 

Oxford University Press also interviewed Attanasio about the themes of the book in a 25-minute Soundcloud podcast. It has over 3100 listens.

Ameena Gill (Engr ’04) was promoted to senior director of quality and process excellence at Lyft. Ameena was previously the General Manager at Lyft, responsible for growing market share and profitability for the entire California region. She lives in San Francisco with her 3-year-old son, Gavin.  

Jon Perry (Engr ’92) suffered a spinal cord injury on June 21, 2020. A GoFundMe has been set up on his behalf. 

John M. Millar (Darden ’72 L/M), a Vietnam veteran, will publish his first novel on Sept. 30, 2020. Spanning 200 years of American military history, The Wars Among the Paines, is an epic historical fictions that tells the complex story of a family defined by war, accounting in vivid detail its toll in blood, treasure, and emotional turmoil. Nearly 50 years in the making, The Wars Among the Paines illustrates how the consequences of America’s foreign wars escape the boundaries of the front lines, and ripple through generations of families, friends, politics, and the lives of we the people.

Bill Venema (Law ’81 CM) recently published his second novel, Dawn in Dallas.

Set in the late 1980s, the book follows the journey of Robert E. Clark, the protagonist from Death in Panama, as he leaves the Army JAG Corps and embarks on a career in private law practice. He secures a position at Underwood & Crockett, a prestigious law firm in Dallas, Texas, even though his young daughter and ex-wife reside in Pemberton, Georgia, the small town where he grew up. 

Things get complicated when Robert receives disturbing news from home at the same time he is confronted with unethical behavior by one of the senior partners in the firm.  The challenges of his new career and his responsibilities as a father pull him in opposite directions, and he doesn’t always make the right decision. 

Dawn in Dallas has its share of plot twists and interesting characters and along the way reveals some of the darker secrets of life inside a large law firm and the serious deficiencies of the court system.

Currently, Bill is Of Counsel in the Austin office of Jackson Walker LLP. He and his wife live in Georgetown, Texas.

Jeff Drifmeyer (Grad ’74, ’80) published a thriller novel, When Pigs Flu, under the pen name Jake McKenzie. The thriller novel, Drifmeyer writes, “reads eerily like evening news” in its discussion of the possible role of research labs and wet markets in a real pandemic risk. His work of narrated non-fiction, Civil War Comes Home, explores historic origins of BLM.

Judy Dearlove (Grad ’75) published Play On!, her first novel, last November. The book has been named a finalist for the INDIES Book of the Year award; was featured in Shelf Unbound’s Summer issue recommended reading list; and was the focus of Dearlove’s interview in Allison Kirkland’s Creatives in Conversation series.

Play On!, a stand-up-and-cheer tale of epic rivalry and deep friendship, has been lauded as “the funniest book . . . in years” (Frank McNair), and “a brisk and joyful first novel by a wise woman” (Georgann Eubanks). It is available in paperback and as an e-book for Kindle and other devices. Check with your favorite bookstore, RCWMS Publications, Amazon, or Smashwords.

Lynne McNamee (Col ’92 L/M) was invited to moderate the first breakout session for the Rotary International 2020 Virtual Convention. “Using Virtual Tools to Engage Members” was attended by over 3,500 from around the globe, with the session simultaneously translated into 7 additional languages. 

David “Tates” Tatum (Col ’71 L/M) retired in 2012 from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta as vice president of supervision and regulation after 40 years in financial services. Before working for the Federal Reserve Bank, he spent time with C&S/NationsBank, BankSouth and CheckFree. After living in Atlanta for 40 years, he moved to Lake Rabun, Georgia in 2012. He has been married to Jackie for 44 years with two children, Ashley Tatum (Col ’02) and Price. David is now active in Rotary and Habitat for Humanity, and he serves as president of the Lake Rabun Association.

Elizabeth Herbert Evans’ (Col ’01) family recently opened a cabin rental business in Nelson County, Virginia. Beech Grove Cabins is 40 minutes away from Grounds in the heart of all the great breweries, wineries and distilleries.

Georgia Newell Merten (Col ’81) is a Florida state licensed interior designer with more than 23 years of experience providing both residential and commercial interior design. She opened her own boutique design firm, Georgia Merten interior Design, in 2011, and recently won an ASID South Florida Award for Residential Renovation. She has been published in Florida Design Magazine, SE Florida Style & Design and The Palm Beach Post.

John Valliere (Engr ’76 L/M) retired in May after 11 years as the senior disaster planner at the U.S. Small Business Administration headquarters in Washington, D.C. In this role, he served as the deputy director of the Office of Continuous Operations and Risk Management and principle author of the agency’s Disaster Preparedness and Recovery Plan and its Continuity of Operations Plan. He previously served in the U.S. Air Force, retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1997, and in the private sector. He lives with his wife, Shirley Hottot, in Montclair, Virginia.

Shannon Horton (Nurs ’98) shares how her family’s business, Horton Vineyards, supported the front line workers of COVID-19:

“As COVID began to grow into a pandemic I wondered how Horton Vineyards could help front line workers/service people.  I heard that distilleries had changed their operations over to making hand sanitizer.  I immediately called a local distillery, Silverback and asked if they wanted some wine to distill. They arranged for transportation and so far 2 – 18 wheeler loads have been transported to Silverback, made into hand sanitizer and made its way to the front lines. As of today Silverback has received from Horton Vineyards via donation over 11,000 gallons of wine to be distilled into Hand Sanitizer.by Silverback.  To put this into perspective it is over 4,500 cases of wine. There are many different ways to support front line workers/services.  We went a little outside the wine box.”

Jason H. Silverman (Col ’74), the Ellison Capers Palmer Jr. Professor of History Emeritus at Winthrop University, has published his 12th book, When America Welcomed Immigrants: The Short and Tortured History of Abraham Lincoln’s Act to Encourage Immigration. Additionally, the Governor of South Carolina awarded him the Order of the Silver Crescent, “the state’s highest civilian award for significant contributions, leadership, volunteerism, and lifelong influence within a region or community.” Silverman retired in December 2017 after almost 40 years as a university professor. He lives with his family in Pawleys Island, South Carolina.  

Charles R. Lattimer (Engr ’01 L/M) was recently appointed as a senior faculty specialist at the University of Maryland Center for Advanced Transportation Technology Laboratory. The lab supports national, state and local efforts to improve transportation management and operations through research and development, technology implementation, big data visualization, training and education. He previously served as a project director for Atkins North America.

B. Michael Antler (Com ’06) will publish his first book, Josephus: A Novel, on Sept. 29, 2020. Available on Kindle, audiobook, hardcover, and paperback, Josephus brings the First Roman-Jewish War and destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. back to life nearly 2,000 years later. Based on Josephus’ own writings and written for a 21st Century audience, this epic comes packed with thirty original illustrations, original songs, dances, prayers and psalms, and historically accurate quotations. 

Drew Cutright (Com ’95 L/M) hasjoined Tallgrass Energy in Denver as vice president of regulatory affairs and chief compliance officer. Cutright previously worked at Dominion Energy in Richmond, Virginia, for nearly two decades.

Anne Colmery Cicero (Col ’03 L/M) and David Cicero welcomed daughter Madeline Jane “MJ” on May 22, 2020. MJ joins big sisters Lucia, 10, and Ella, 8. The family recently relocated to North Texas after seven years on the island of O’ahu. Emelie Duke Colmery (Col ’12, Educ ’13) is auntie.

Richard Margulies (Col ’76 L/M) was recently featured in the Chambers USA 2020 Guide, a publication ranking the leading lawyers and law firms across the U.S. Margulies is managing principal of the Jacksonville, Florida, office of Jackson Lewis. He has more than 30 years of experience in counseling and representing employers in litigation matters.

William Barratt (Col ’07) and his wife, Susanna, welcomed a daughter, Virginia Jones, on March 20, 2020. Virginia joins older sister, Constance, born in 2016. The family lives in northern Virginia, where William works as a compliance officer at EJF Capital and serves on the vestry of The Falls Church Anglican.

Jenna Rinehart Rassif (Col ’92 L/M) was featured in the Chambers USA 2020 Guide, a publication ranking the leading lawyers and law firms across the U.S. Rassif is the managing principal of Jackson Lewis’ Miami office. She has extensive experience representing employers in virtually all areas of labor and employment law.

Tim Lough (Engr ’72, ’84 L/M) published his first book, Misadventures of the Nockizeemi Kid. According to one review, reading this book is no misadventure. In fact, the reader will be enthralled with the adventures, exploits, and occasional snowballs landing badly of the Nockizeemi Kid. What a refreshing and entertaining view of life from the eyes of an inquisitive and active boy growing up during the ’50s and ’60s in Richmond, Virginia, and eventually surviving childhood and UVA. A delightful read!

Karlyn Crowley (Grad ’02) was named provost of Ohio Wesleyan University. “As one of the ‘Colleges that Change Lives,’ Ohio Wesleyan embodies all that I believe in – challenging academics, civic engagement and service to the community, a commitment to equity and inclusion, and the development of the whole person,” Crowley said. “OWU is the best of what a residential liberal arts college can be. I can imagine no better culmination of my liberal-arts passions and experience than leading OWU academics.”

Marney White (Com ’91) received the 2020 Teacher of the Year award from the Yale School of Public Health. This is the second distinguished teacher award White has won since 2014. Since then, she has also launched a class through Coursera, been denied the role of “feminist Ivy League Professor” in a local community theater production, and been a back-row dancer in the viral “Fairfield Mombies” Thriller/Halloween flashmob sensation. 

Charles Ross (Engr ’80, ’83, ’88), professor of physics at Longwood University, will publish his fourth book on the U.S. Civil War, Breaking the Blockade, later this year. Ross has made appearances on PBS, History Channel and National Geographic Channel.

Betty Phipps Roberts (Nurs ’53) has published her third book, In the Shadow of the Bridge. The historical novel answers the question, “Why were we so unprepared for Pearl Harbor?” Covering the year 1941, it is accurate right down to the price of eggs. and quotes Roosevelt, Churchill, Lindbergh and others. The book will be presented in the New York World Book Fair—if and when it is held.

Richard Margulies (Col ’76 L/M) was recently featured in the Chambers USA 2020 Guide, a publication ranking the leading lawyers and law firms across the U.S. Margulies is office managing principal of the Jacksonville, Florida, office of Jackson Lewis. He has more than 30 years of experience in counseling and representing employers in litigation matters.

Esther Yin-ling Spodek (Col ’84) published We Have Everything Before Us in April. It is a darkly comic novel of everyday suburban American life, an internet romance and the families of the couple involved, love and loneliness.

Nerissa Neal Rouzer (Col ’06 L/M) and Garett Michael Rouzer (Arch ’05 L/M) welcomed their first child, Ethan Henry, on Feb. 27, 2020. The family lives in Charlottesville.

Matthew W. Hughey (Grad ’09) was recently promoted to full professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut.