Helen Sayrs (Hurley)

Watched the first Story of God last night!  It was wonderful.  Tom & I commented how Morgan Freeman was able to sum up a complicated idea in a simple sentence that made perfect sense.  Looking forward to the next show.

Steven Levinson

Mare:  great first episode!

Mary Benjamin

Thanks Laura and Sandy! Lev and Helen, so glad you liked the first episode. We had a very fun screening Friday night for everyone who worked on the show and friends and family on the Fox Studios Lot, which was fun to see. It was a great night. Network is very happy with the ratings so all good here! Love, Mary

Judy Holtzer (Knopf)

Congratulations to Mary on completion and airing of her project Story of G-d with Morgan Freeman. I am always fascinated with stories of the Divinity, and Morgan Freeman is a treasure and giant among actors. My daughter is more savvy about finding this stuff via phones and computers than I....

I can't wait to see the series one way or another!

Judy Holtzer (Knopf)

I just turned 70, had a sweet birthday party with the family, and enjoyed very much the birthday wishes that came in by so many different channels of communication... whatsup, skype, email, phone, facebook, facebook messanger... the last sent me a very cheering message I feel compelled to pass on to other classmates who are rounding off a decade:  TURNING 70 IS LIKE TURNING 21 IN CELSIUS. Very cheering indeed!!! And I will still treasure the old-school, handwritten note by Rick wishing me an old fashioned, in-tribe, mazal tov.  Very sweet of you.

I am very regretful that continuing health issues keep me from making the huge puddle jump to join you all in June for now. Hope eveyone hs a great time. Looking forward to videos you guys!!! You hear me???

Jonathan Marks

Rick is amazing, isn't he?

Sandy Steele (Bauman)

John and I enjoed the first episode very much. Congrats on yet another success, Mary!

Larry Klein

I think we heard you Judy.  Take care of those "issues".

I'm sending this from Hilton Head Island where Dale S and I have been playing golf this week (heading north Friday AM).  Can't wait for the June pahtee!

Paul Simons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj9oB4zpHww

Jeff Daum

Following unusual rains in the desert, a bit of nature has awakened behind our home:

and a busy bee

Paul Simons

Beautiful cactus flowers, Jeff Daum. I lived in Tucson for a while, is that where the photos were taken?

Jeff Daum

thanks Paul.  No, that was taken out my backyard.  We live in the mountains above Las Vegas.

Dale Gieringer

         If you're visiting northern California, be sure to visit the Oakland Museum's pioneering new exhibition on cannabis,  "Altered State:  Marijuana in California"  April 16 - Sept 25.   The show features live cannabis plants and state-of-the-art medicinal products (carefully sheltered from public touch) plus  historical, cultural and interactive displays.  Yours truly is one of the contributors.

An excellent excuse for Bay Area visitors to make the trek over to Oakland, which is finally shedding its "no there there" reputation to become an epicenter of cultural activity, not to mention basketball prowess.

      http://museumca.org/exhibit/altered-state-marijuana-california

(That's me with my wife Alice and daughter Arianne.  For more pictures from the Oakland Museum exhibit, see  https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wasb4pcfqaecf9y/AADjr0XUiWH4BaxfN-YPtgWka?dl=0 )

Richard Murdock

Judy:

Sorry to hear that you will not be able to attend the reunion.  I was looking forward to having a chance to catch up with you at the reunion.  I am sure however that you will be deluged with photos and videos.  And I will send you some too.  Happy belated 70th birthday.  Sounds like you had a good one.  Mine is in December, so I still have some months left at being "sixty something". 

Mary:

Congrats on a terrific series.  I have watched both episodes so far and am enjoying it immensely.  Morgan Freeman is a superb guide on this journey and I get the distinct sense that he personally is interested in the content and the answers he is getting to his questions.  Especially from the Buddhist teacher that he met with. 

Ann Shepard (Rueve)

Walnut Hills High is number 1 and number 2

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/education/2016/04/19/cincy-has-top-two-schools-state/83229870/

Judy Holtzer (Knopf)

Hi Dick, or is it Richard? There are several names in the RSVP list of our 70th Birthday Bash that bring wrenching regret that I had to send my regrets, and you are among them.

Since my spine will never stop deteriorating, I doubt that I will ever make it back to the States or Cincinnati, so as I have told Kay on numerous occasions, it's up to you to come to visit my chosen country of residence, amazing Israel. I will do my best to be the best hostess and guide I can be. And beforehand, I will be really pleased to be asked to advise you on what to see since it's impossible to see it all in one trip, even if the trip lasts for months.

Completely changing the subject, my late husband was avid about cacti and succulents. I hated them, so please don't ask me about them, but Eddie was quite the expert. The gorgeous pictures of cactus flowers here on the forum reminded me of Eddie's favorite. He called it the Midnight Lady, probably his original non-scientific nomenclature. It bloomed a huge white flower, once a year, in the middle of the night, and died with the sun. Anyone know what I'm talking about? Post a picture?

I had a slideshow for my family 70th birthday party in early April. My clever younger son showed me how to use dropbox, so I pored over several generations of family pictures, sent the Chosen Few to Joel and he whipped up a powerpoint for me. I consciously aimed the presentation to Joel's older daughter, Tamar, a very scary precocious 8 year old. She was talking to me after the show about her ancestors, and I said to her in the typical stupid offhand adult way that I myself scorned 60 years ago, "Well, you know, Tamar, it's all in the blood." To which she immediately whipped back, "Grammy, it's DNA!!!" . Blush. P.S. I do not recommend playing cards for money with Tamar. The first time her father taught her 21, she consistently whipped both father and I, and I for one was not trying to lose.

Anyone who would like to see my family and I, some pictures including people you may recognize, send your email with a note to my email  judyhknopf@hotmail.com  and I will set up a shared dropbox and we can exchange pictures, both ancient history and present. It might take a while, so be patient...

Again, have a great party, guys. Nice to hear from y'all.

Judy Holtzer (Knopf)

Ooof. Typical again.

Wanted to add a brag and invitation for the researchers among you to look up my younger son, Joel Knopf, who not long ago became Manager of Consulting Services of Freemind Consultants. Freemind assists researchers applying for an NIH grant or contract. Please contact Joel directly through their website, and say that you are from my high school graduating class. He knows some of our stories.....

Mary Vore (Iwamoto)

Thanks Judy!  I will guide the faculty in our Department to your son's site - scary times for young and middle-age faculty whose lives depend on NIH funding.  I am so glad that I was able to retire and not have to face ten or so years struggling.  I have enjoyed your posts - it is good to learn about Israel and Palestine (you posted a very interesting article several weeks ago on your page) from a source more knowledgeable than even our 'best' newspapers.  Sorry you can't make it to the reunion - I would have enjoyed talking with you. 

Gail Weintraub (Stern)

We have just learned from Dan's wife that our classmate Dan Lea passed away in August, 2014. We know of no other information. His name has been added to our In Memory page. 

Richard Murdock

Judy:

Just went to the Freemind website and found your son there.  Quite an impressive bio !  You must be very proud of him.  And at the Boston offices too.  Such a terrific town.   Congrats on raising such a successful son. 

As for the Richard/Dick confusion - lately I find myself using Richard when I meet someone new.  Not sure if I can articulate exactly why.  "Richard" just seems more fitting for an almost 70 year old man (birthday is in December).  However to my Walnut Hills classmates -- I remain Dick.

Dick

Gene Stern

I had been in contact with Dab Hites and then he stopped responding early this year. His wife just emailed me that Dan passed away Feb 12 2016. Rest in peace my tall Air Force buddy. I was so looking forward to seeing you at our Birthday Bash this June.

Gail Weintraub (Stern)

I have added Dan's obituary on his In Memory page. Please add your comments for our classmate who we will all miss. He was a good man. RIP Dan.

Peter Crockett

Friends, I’ve found inspiration in Dr. Bill Thomas’s Second Wind, about exploring elderhood after leaving adulthood behind. Would enjoy talking with others interested in this concept. My life partner, Davida, and I are two months into traveling around the country in a travel trailer and truck staying at state  and national campgrounds. We’ll find a campground near Cincinnati to attend the reunion. I look forward to meeting the people you’ve become.

Jerry Ochs

Cincinnati Reds fans,

Read this and weep.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/instagraphs/the-indians-hit-a-grand-slam-with-walks/

Philip Spiess

A Columbus, Ohio, Dinner Evening (as such):

I have occasionally posted on this Forum some recipes and some drink formulas (yeah, I know, this ain't Facebook).  Whether these have been of interest to any of you, I do not know, but here are some more:

To wit:  I was going to cook Turkey Tetrazzini for my wife tonight [cf., eons ago on this site, I posted my history of the Three "It Isn't Over Till the Fat Lady Sings" famous Fat Ladies of opera, offering, among other dishes, Tetrazzini], but she said that the white sauce involved was too much for her.  So I said, okay, I'll turn it into Johnny Marzetti (you may well remember this dish from the WHHS lunchroom).  "Eh?" she said (being from northern New England).

Well, as it turns out, the current edition (2006) of The Joy of Cooking has a recipe for "Johnny Marzetti Spaghetti Pie."  For those of you who don't remember, Marzetti's Restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, originated this recipe; they also, for a good number of years, marketed Marzetti salad dressings.  Although I substituted ground turkey for the standard ground beef, it came out quite well.

But wait!  There's more!  In combing through a book on the history of the Manhattan Cocktail (I think I've mentioned in these pages that one of my current research projects is on the history of the cocktail -- with copious "laboratory" experimentation, needless to say), I found the "Deshler Cocktail," created for the Deshler Hotel in Columbus, Ohio.  [The building, one of Columbus's skyline landmarks, as I recall, is still there, but I believe it is now diverted to other uses.]  Here is the recipe:

1 1/2 oz. Rye Whiskey     1 oz. Dubonnet Rouge (Red)     1/4 oz. Cointreau     2 Orange Peels  

1 Lemon Peel

Stir all ingredients (including the peels -- I was too lazy; I forgot the peels and just added a little juice) with ice.

So -- a Columbus dinner and cocktail interlude; on the rare occasions that I find myself in Columbus, Ohio, these days (I frankly prefer Columbus, Indiana), I tend to eat in Columbus's German Village.