1994

Hello all! It is almost Memorial Day here in Boston, 45 degrees and a Nor'Easter raging outside, so you can imagine how I felt when I got an update from Paul Johnson, happily living in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. P.J. lives outside Jacksonville, very close to the beach and his work. He has been happily married to Tami '96 for just about 10 years and they have three lovely daughters, Nicole (6), Paige (4) and Rachel (1). PJ says that he fears for his life when they turn 12 or 13 Š On the job front, PJ has been with the PGA tour for close to five years. He is vice president of new media, including all media that is not standard TV (Internet, mobile, onsite, satellite radio, video on demand, some I-TV, among other things). His job is interesting (sounds it!) and he loves being around golf every day (so would I!). His work charter is to make more money for the players and for charity (the PGA gave $83 million to charity last year). In addition to spending each day in the world of professional golf, P.J. worked in some other sports this year, too, cheering on his Illini in the Final Four, attending the Super Bowl at home in Jacksonville and the Daytona 500.

Dave Linda also was in touch with the news that he had the opportunity to donate bone marrow this spring. Dave had originally joined the bone marrow registry while at Kellogg and this spring was fortunate to be a match for a 46-year-old man suffering from leukemia. Dave wrote: "It was nice to hopefully make a difference and, at the same time, get a great big dose of perspective on what's really important. The entire experience took me away from the office for about 20 hours total spread across two weeks. Most of us never get a chance to save a life. I urge you to throw your hat in the ring. It feels pretty good. And it can be the most important thing that ever happened to someone you'll never meet." If you are interested in learning more about joining the bone marrow registry, you can visit marrow.org to find out how to participate. Dave lives in Houston with his wife Dena, a speech pathologist at the University of Houston (and a Northwestern alum), his son Sam (7) and daughter Freddie (4). Dave is president of SpaceMan Home & Office, which designs, manufactures and installs custom closets, home offices, garages and other residential cabinetry systems. The company formed in 1999, and in 2002, was No. 35 on Houston's list of 100 fastest-growing private companies.

Patrick Griffin and family (wife Kristin, son Aaron and daughter Kate) departed Houston for Austin, Texas. After nine years with Compaq, Patrick left for a startup in late 2003. He gave it a whirl for about a year and recently opted to join Dell and relocate to Austin.

Also in the Austin area is Susie Baskin (Osbourne) and her family: husband Steve and kids Wiley and Liam (8), Terrill (6) and Virginia (3). The Baskins have a summer camp (Baskin Family Camp) in Marble Falls, Texas, and sound very happy and busy! Susie balances time between the camp and her kids and also found time to chair three community fundraisers for the Boys and Girls club, her church and the local hospital. She also does ballet and appeared in the "Nutcracker" alongside her daughters this year! Susie and Steve recently took a three-week trip to New Zealand to celebrate their tenth anniversary. (How I wish that last sentence were about this Suzie, writer of Class Notes, and my husband Steve!)

Greg Norman's wife Margy Stratton '93 sent me an article from the April 2005 Better Homes and Gardens entitled "Housewarming Potluck" that features a picture of our own David Miller. David was either hosting a potluck or attending one. (I couldn't quite tell from the photo.)

I picked the following things up from the Kellogg "alums in the media" section on the Kellogg Web site. Todd C. Freeland was named managing director and head of the media, telecommunications and technology practice group at investment bank Goldsmith Agio Helms. Todd was formerly with Goldman Sachs. Gabriel Balzaretti was named director general and country manager for Assurant Solutions Mexico, a credit protection provider. Congratulations to both!

That's it for this time around. Have a great summer and, as always, let me (and us) know how you are doing!