Paul Simons

Bruce thanks but I don’t have anything like the credentials for that. It’s for people like Bonnie Raitt or Bruce Springsteen - people who have placed their faith into the music they love and made it their lives’ work. At best I’m what’s known as a weekend warrior. Still I feel lucky. It’s something that, like Merle Haggard says, I don’t have to quit “as long as my two hands are fit to use”.

Paul Simons

Just to be clear - the tunes Laura menmtioned, that go with the photos she put up, are here:

https://phsra8.wixsite.com/cd-electro

To those who remember and care about this area of endeavor, thanks for your interest.

Laura Reid (Pease)

THANK YOU, THANK YOU PAUL!!!  WE ALL NEED THAT BLAST FROM THE PAST!  SO MUCH TALENT YOU HAVE!!!

Paul Simons

Thanks for your kind words Laura. I’m amazed at how everyone in the Class of 64 has found what makes them happy, found ways to live up to that old motto “Sursum Ad Summum”. It turns out everyone gets the blues sometimes too, and I feel lucky to have a way to deal with it. Something worth having these days as the country lurches from crisis to crisis.

If something seems relevant I’ll put it up on that minimalist website and let you know. Again thanks.

Gail Weintraub (Stern)

Dear Class of 1964,

I wanted to personally thank you for your generous gift that made the filming and streaming of our recent production of Hamlet possible. I have seen the rough footage, and I believe everyone will be absolutely blown away by the quality of both the acting and the video recording. We cannot wait to share it with the world starting this Friday. Being able to do this production has made a tremendous difference in the lives of the students involved, especially our seniors who have missed out and continue to miss out on so much. Thank you for making this production possible, and for giving our students some sense of normalcy back in their lives. We are eternally grateful to you.

Sincerely, Mike Sherman, Fine Arts Department Co-Chairperson, Theatre Department, Walnut Hills High School                                                                                                          

Judy Holtzer (Knopf)

Thank you for the thank you.

Having been a senior, albeit actually a lifetime ago, I cannot imagine what COVID has done to their lives and equilibrium, collectively and personally.  

I cannot wait to see Hamlet!

Richard Winter

My wife, Jan Stigberg, a contemporary craft jeweler, has put her work online for the first time.  

Until now, it has been available only at craft galleries and craft fairs.  These are her original designs.  She crafts them by hand in her studio: janstigbergdesigns.com

Ira Goldberg

First, Mike Sherman of the Theater Dept. is my neighbor's son in law. I can tell you how thrilled he is to have our support. Second, Richard, your bride's work and story are both lovely! Grand holiday gifts! And, Judy your posts are funny as can be. Thank you for the thank you for the thank you. 

Judy Holtzer (Knopf)

After 51 years living as an expat, I am probably more "Israelii" than "American" at this point. That said, the first 23 years of my life were lived in the United States, and the pride I felt in 1968 when I exercised my right to vote is still fresh in my mind.

I am very worried for the state of democracy in the United States. Contrary to most models throughout history, democracy is now being challenged by the sitting President, rather than unruly street mobs, if I understand reports correctly. 

I'm even more worried for the health of the American people. It's hard to wrap one's head around that statistic of 2,000+ dead of coronavirus yesterday. The statistic is horrific enough, but the lives behind that that number? It's heartbreaking.

Now, as the slang goes in Israel: TACHLISS (roughly, "down to brass tacks"): What is everyone doing for Thanksgving? What are grandchildren away at college planning to do? After Thanksgiving comes Christmas.....

Could we have a discussion about these and similar matters without compromising the parameters of this forum?

Bruce Fette

Judy,

There are many of us who agree with your concerns for the future of democracy. We have been communicating off this message forum.

Jerry Ochs

The view from Japan is also terribly disturbing.  Our two sons live only about three or four hours away via the Shinkansen (Bullet Train), but they are forbidden by their employers from venturing outside their respective prefectures (like states but with far less independence) as is my wife.  There is a long New Year holiday here during which everybody usually goes home (think Thanksgiving or Xmas), but the national government is begging people to stay put.   If the virus isn't contained there won't be any Olympic Games,  We are all doing our part to keep each other safe.  By the way, my neighbors have finally stopped asking me why I don't want to go home.

Laura Reid (Pease)

I have been meaning to tell you all what is going on at Walnut Hills concerning the pandemic.  You may not be aware, especially if you don't live in the City.  When Cincinnati Pulblic opened the schools, either in person or hybrid, Walnut Hills was the only CPS school which stayed on a totally virtual schedule.  I have a grandson who is a sophomore so I know first hand.  The story is that WHHS is overenrolled and unable to socially distance because there just isn't enough  room.  I am sure there are many other factors but that is the main one.  Students are leaving Walnut Hills "in droves", transferring to private or Catholic schools where there is room.  Our grandson transferred to private three weeks ago.  i am on a forum connected with Facebook called "Open Cincinnati Public Schools"--these are mostly WHHS parents who attend CPS board meetings, trying to influence the board to open up, citing boredom, depression, lack of work, etc. for their kids.  It is all very sad.  I know this is not a unique situation nationally.  But I feel that here in Cincinnati, it will influence WHHS standing in the City and nationally; not sure our wonderful school can recover.

Judy Holtzer (Knopf)

Laura, thanks for sharing. I'm so sorry for your distress for your grandson and for WHHS. The feeling of helplessness. But you seem not to have devolved into hopelessness. Bravo to you. Grandma power!  I'm smiling now, trying to imagine either of my grandmothers acting so assertively for me! 

I wonder why the school decided to overenroll. 

Richard Murdock

Judy:  I share your concerns.  The public discourse here seems to have gotten increasingly coarse over time.  And I fear that once those norms get broken, it will be difficult to repair - i.e. return to the days when you could disagree with someone without questioning their motives or their intelligence.

The local newspaper here in San Jose does a daily recap of Coronavirus statistics.  One section of the statistics is deaths by age since the start of the pandemic in March.   One age group is 0 to 17.  Cumulative deaths in that age group as of today is 2.   It would seem from that statistic alone that that age group is for some reason not particularly susceptible to the Coronavirus.   Yet the powers that be continue to shut down the schools here.  I do not understand that.   FYI:  These statistics are for the state of California only.  

Judy Holtzer (Knopf)

Jerry, your comment about your neighbors asking you about returning to the States really made my day!! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I thought Israel was the only place that had people who were so thick! Thinking that the USA is some paradise.....

Judy Holtzer (Knopf)

Hi Dick...

Yeah, well the concern is not about deaths in the youngest age cohort, but about the cute little tykes passing it on to Mom and Dad, and then they pass it on to Gramma and Grampa, who are much more liable to die. It's all in the epidemiomiology of the virus. 

Paul Simons

Judy I have a question for you. It looks to me that Tel Aviv and Haifa are pretty close to sea level. So if the climate is changing, warming, ice melting, water levels rising, those and other cities are threatened. As you know here we have multiple sets of facts.  Current policy regards global temperature rise due to the yearly burning of trillions of tons of fossil fuels to be a 'hoax', while in other quarters thinking is more reality based.  What's it like in Israel? Are there widely distanced perceptions or are the various  government, media, commercial interests in agreement?  Are Israel's citizens in agreement with one another on this issue? I am concerned because this is what we will all leave to our progeny, in fact to the world of living beings, and it's the only thing that will matter in the long run. I'm very interested in how this is seen in Israel. 

Dale Gieringer

Judy makes a good point about Covid.  My wife has a colleague who entrusted her kids to the care of her aunt, who got Covid from them and died.  I wonder, how many of our classmates have had or been close to someone with Covid?  I count myself lucky that our family has a nice home where we can hunker down and avoid infection.  So do most of our friends, who are mainly retired, but a lot of real people have to venture out in the world and expose themselves to make a living.

Gail Weintraub (Stern)

Dale, in response to your query: A dear cousin died of COVID in August, my son in Southern California had COVID in March/April and his girlfriend now has COVID, and Jim Hunt, WHHS Class of 1963, was intubated for 12 days in  Cincinnati while his wife was in a COVID unit at the same hospital. TOO MANY!

Paul Simons

Gail did Jim Hunt and his wife pull through? Any lasting damage?  How is your (possible)  daughter in law? What tears at me regarding Covid is that it can be dealt with as Dr. Fauci often tries to tell us but like climate science it has been politicized. This is nothing new, it's been well known for months at this point. But things are getting worse. A vaccine is close but so are people who say they'll refuse to take it. This country has the highest number of Covid deaths although I sometimes wonder if reporting in the next two on the list, Brazil and India, is as accurate as our standard mainstream media reporting is.

Gail Weintraub (Stern)

Paul, Jim Hunt is in a rehab facility due to weakness; his wife is home on oxygen. Too soon to know if they will have any 'long hauler' issues. My son's friend is slowly improving; too soon to know about any lasting symptoms.

Jerry Ochs

Judy et al.,

The statistics are shocking.  I just compared the numbers for the USA and Japan.

Rough number of cases/deaths  USA  11,000,000/250,000   

Japan 130,000/2,000

The population of Japan is about 40% of the USA's population.   Close to half and yet the numbers are so far apart.  What are the numbers like in Israel?

Richard Winter

Responding to Dale: My younger son, David, had Covid this summer.  He had a week at home not feeling well, tested positive, but then recovered and has been fine ever since.  He is 33.

He is in a graduate program at University of Nebraska -- on a large campus -- and he both takes classes and teaches undergraduates.   All his classes and student interaction have been virtual since March but the virus is still spreading on campus.    Our older son, Daniel, teaches Tai Chi, and has been doing that online via Zoom since the early spring.  

Both my wife and I work at home and have been able to minimize our exposure.   

As a family, we feel very fortunate. 

Chuck Cole

It seems only fittimg that the places where case numbers and deaths are soaring are states that resisted imposing most restrictive measures, including masks, until very recently.  These all happen to be red states.  99.9+% of the people have no trouble following rules about keeping genitals covered but the ability to more readily infect others with a respiratory disease has become a sacred right (and rite).  It is so ironic that the nation with the most advanced technology in the world has also had the worst response to Covid.  

Becky Payne (Shockley)

Laura: Thanks for sharing the sad news about WHHS during the pandemic. I hope things will somehow improve once the US gets serious about controlling this virus and reducing the spread (after January 20) but in the meantime I feel very sorry for the students (current and formera0 and teachers at WHHS.