1982

In addition to other news, our class wants to give a brief update on our May Reunion this year.

	Kim Jensen (Ron's wife), Gwen Cohen, Ron Benton, all '82.
	Gwen Cohen '82 attended this year's Emmy Awards.

Gina Tapper also reported in. She and five others from our class (Patty Bloomfield,"M" BolyardAmy Herfort GelmanCarol Farquhar and Deb Yanofsky) held court at dinner in Old Town during Reunion. Gina is enjoying the good life in LaJolla from her charming Cape Cod cottage. She returned to California after a stint with PriceWaterhouseCoopers in several East Coast cities. Gina now runs her own consulting firm that focuses on program planning and business plan development in the healthcare field.

Candy Black (we knew her asDonnetta "Candy" Simpson) is the mom of three very talented children: Vesty (junior engineering/architectural design student at Princeton), Katherine (psych major at Amherst) and Kristina (a senior in high school). Candy is a full-time mom and part-time math teacher in suburban Chicago.

Another educator (by night), Mark Long, is a vice president in commercial lending at Harris bank during the day, and finance professor at Lake Forest Graduate School of Management in the evenings. Mark and his wife, Babe, celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary this year. Their children are Samantha (pre-med at Syracuse University), Sarah and Mark (both at Palatine High).

Craig Kensek has been volunteering at Stanford. Admitting he's one of San Francisco's most eligible single bachelors for the sixth year in a row, along with George Lucas, Craig has also taken up motorcycling and has traversed the Vegas strip several times.

Arch King sends greetings from the Chicago area. Married with three children (only one still at home), he remains at Northern Trust (currently senior product manager in the investment division).

Brian Chung recently co-authored a text called "Improvisation at the Piano: A Systematic Approach for the Classically Trained Pianist." He is proud of his children, Evan (23), and Jason (beginning college at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo).

John Gerrity informed me that his partner and wife of 25 years, Deborah, was in a tragic bicycle accident in Menlo Park, Calif., in late July. She did not survive her injuries. We all send our warmest thoughts to John and his family.

By the time you read this, Vicki Mayfield will likely have relocated to Nanjing, China, (about three hours northwest of Shanghai). Her husband has agreed to teach law in a joint program offered by Johns Hopkins and Nanjing Universities. Vicki will be seeking consulting opportunities and studying Chinese languages and hopes to connect with Kellogg alums in the area.

Hats are off to Debra "Cookie" Lee, founder of Cookie Lee Jewelry. She was featured this summer in a front-page article in the Orange County (California) Register. She and John Lin '81 are the proud parents of two teenagers, Steve (16) and Katie (14), whom they hope will join the business and continue the legacy. Cookie Lee Inc. is 15 years old this year, and employs 175 people and 40,000 sales consultants nationwide.

Cookie shared with me at our reunion that her business was born out of the need to spend time with her children. Now she gives others across the country the same opportunity while earning a very handsome living. On a trip to Dallas this summer, I met a high-energy Cookie Lee consultant who was thrilled to learn that I knew Cookie before Cookie Lee Inc. was born.

As for me, life is good: splendid seasons in Chicago (and other great cities I visit), great family and friends, and a fulfilling career at Morgan Stanley as a wealth adviser. This year I turn 21 (years at Morgan Stanley), and will have more "adult" events to report about all of us next issue.