1986

Big news coming out of Chicago and Gordon Kane, regarding the world of sports. Gordon has been working with the committee to secure the 2016 Olympics for Chicago. They have won the right to be the city that will represent the United States, but now they have to compete with Rio, Rome, Madrid, Tokyo and a few others. Gordon has asked that all of you who engage in white- or blue-collar crime try to keep it out of Chicago for the next few years, until the selection committee makes its decision. Gordon also trained, qualified and ran in the Boston Marathon. Other than the cold, rain and 35-mile-per-hour winds, it was a grand time and he plans on doing it again next year. His aerodynamic look helped him reduce his wind resistance. I once ran a mile of the marathon, but I was just running from one bar to another during the race. It was very exhilarating.

Sticking with Chicago news, Fred O'Connor reports that he is just beginning his fifth year of executive recruiting. The improving economy has helped his business growth. They recently moved their offices back to the John Hancock building because Fred likes being close to a Cheesecake Factory. The business requires some travel, but Fred is home most nights for dinner or at least he is able to read a bedtime story to his youngest son. Fred also chaperoned a school field trip to the Illinois state capital in Springfield. On the trip they were able to meet with the governor during a 40-minute Q&A session. Gov. Blagojevich explained the benefits of his proposed $7.6 billion gross receipts tax, which he must have explained better to the students than he did to the legislators because they voted it down 107-0. Fred and his family enjoy living in Evanston. Fred stops by the Allen Center for meetings once in awhile. Perhaps he is looking for free chicken tenders?

David Karpick reported that he has recently accepted a new position with Wells Lamont, the leading U.S. manufacturer of work and garden gloves. The gloves are a favorite of Paul Harvey. Good day! David hopes to re-establish the brand and elevate innovation and increase his knowledge of the big-box lawn and garden business. Dave, I can use a men's large or extra-large in gardening gloves. Thanks.

Tony Mann is coaching baseball for his son, Strauss, and David Moffitt (son of Doug Moffitt '85). No word on the team's record so far. I will expect an update for the next newsletter. He and Strauss stopped by my office a few weeks ago on their way to a vacation to Lake Superior. I offered Strauss some Twizzlers, and he sampled a piece and almost choked and then almost broke his teeth. Time for me to buy some new candy for my office. Or maybe Bob Gamgort could send a care package of M&M's? Fred O'Connor and his family were on the trip also. Lake Superior is a beautiful lake, but it can be colder than any body of water you have ever dipped your toe in.

Nathan Troutman's life has been fairly routine. Ha! After restructuring Paul Allen's investment and personal portfolio, he had planned to resettle in New York after leaving Seattle. Before returning to the jungles of New York, he thought it might be fun to go on safari in Africa. Nathan was put in touch with Geoffrey Kent, who has handled all of Bill Gates' African travels for more than 10 years. Mr. Kent also helped spur Mr. Gates' philanthropic interest in that area. Geoffrey hosted Nathan on his trip and they became good friends. Nathan was asked to help organize Mr. Kent's personal and company holdings. Nathan helped him with everything from camp expansions in Tanzania and Kenya to space exploration, which is the company's next big initiative. The work culminated in an investment from the Fortress Investment Group that has significantly lifted the company's future prospects. Nathan is now back in his old Lincoln Center neighborhood which has dramatically changed (for the good) since his absence. I wonder what he could do with the extra $20 I found in my old jacket pocket?

Todd Brachman and Tony Maan, both '86
The Field family is Zach (15), Josh '86, Jamie, and Adam (17).

Brad Kime was very happy to share the news that his bank, Irwin Union, was named one of the Best Places to Work (top 20) in the state of Indiana for the second straight year by the Indiana State Chamber of Commerce. It is the only bank in the state to receive such recognition. Brad is as proud of his bank as a father would be of his child. Since Brad is the president, I think he had a little something to do with it. I'll lift a glass in celebration and hope you can make it three years.

Canh Viet Le apologizes that his life is continuing on a boring trajectory as a stay-at-home dad. What could be less important than spending time with your children? You can hire people to do that work and e-mail the kids once a month from some resort. He is proud that last ski season he told his son, Khoi (8), to ski and on the last day of the ski season his son went down a black diamond run and was totally jazzed. Next ski season Khoi will teach Canh how to ski black diamond runs.

Heinz Felder was sorry to miss last year's reunion, but he had an intensive year in France. A few years ago I gave Heinz a hard time because his company had to right-size several hundred workers in Wisconsin. The paper industry has become ultra competitive. Now the overcapacity problem exists in Europe. Heinz had to get directly involved in terrible but necessary layoffs. This was not something that we learned at Kellogg, and it is never easy. He had to stop two old production lines and was forced to lay off more than 400 workers. He had to struggle with the unions and the politicians to keep the mill running. The work council, lawyers and politicians all wanted to help Heinz run the business, even though none of them knew how to. The children were excited to see their dad on the news and on the front page, even though the news was not always good. At one point a minority of violent employees occupied the mill. Heinz had to quickly learn how to remove barricades without the help of police. Recently things have calmed down and Heinz and his wife, Gudrun, recently had their third child. I think they named him or her Todd. I can't remember.

Cindi Bigelow and her family visited Thomas Gyongyosi and his family in April. Cindi had a great time visiting with her goddaughter, Kira. The two families had fun visiting the salt mines (stay in school or you will work there) and attending a Mozart concert in Salzburg. Thomas mentioned he had some houseguests a few months ago that would not leave, but they were good friends, so what are you going to do. Thomas' children, Marc (12) and Kira (10), are both doing well in school, better than Thomas ever did. Thomas has been working for a Swiss private bank, Bank Sarasin & Cie AG, since 2005. He is building their German operation in Munich, which was also started in 2005. The bank was founded in 1841, but has a tradition of forward thinking. They are also building towards the future, which is how you stick around for more than 165 years.

Josh Field reports in from Florida's Space Coast that his marketing and publishing company, which blasted off last year, has exceeded expectations and is launching new products ahead of schedule. Josh and his wife, Jamie, recently celebrated their 21st wedding anniversary, while their sons, Adam (17) and Zach (15), are excelling in the International Baccalaureate Program at Cocoa Beach High School (yes, there really is such a place; its most famous alum is the world's No. 1 surfer, Kelly Slater).

Dan Lambert's oldest son, Sterling, is a senior (ouch) and his youngest son, Sean, is a freshman in high school. Dan is complaining that nobody has contacted him to arrange a visit in Hawaii. I guess most of us are flocking to Iowa. Dan would love to be a tour guide for some classmates. Dan, send in a picture of the guest room and a view from your house or some nearby view. I'll see what we can do.

I'm teaching summer school and trying to stay at least one chapter ahead of the students. When I fall behind, I just give them a pop quiz to give me time to catch up. This summer I played lots of bad golf and chased chipmunks out of Laurie's flower garden. I am on the board of directors for a retirement community, and I hope we don't run out of old people any time soon. I have also been working on my high school's 30th reunion, which will be held at Miller Park. I did have a very nice dinner and theater outing withLauren Schreiner and her husband, Jim, in April. They had a big summer trip planned, which I will report on next time. I have been trying to lose weight for a while and it is not going well, so I have decided to become taller. Based on my weight and the charts, I need to be about 7'2". Wish me luck. This fall, I will teach international marketing at UWM. Thanks to all of you for keeping in touch.