Recent news If you have news you wish to share in a future edition of the alumni magazine, submit this form. 1954 Alice (Pesner) Friman published her eighth book of poems, On the Overnight Train: New and Selected Poems, which won the 2025 Society of Midland Authors Poetry Award. 1957 Deena Metzger published her 20th book, The Story That Must Not Be Told: A Dead Woman’s Memoir, a novella described as “a fiction that is not a fiction, an unfolding emergence of facts, an investigation of history, events and stories, showing us how wounds going back generations still affect us, with their startling resemblance to the grim political dramas of today.” 1962 Marcelle Stern Kaplan received a second B.S. and M.S. in nursing from the College of Nursing at Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn. She is the co-editor of the Study Guide for the Core Curriculum for Oncology Nursing, 7th edition, and the editor of three editions of Understanding and Managing Oncologic Emergencies: A Resource for Nurses. She is a past president of the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation and served for 21 years on the Cancer Institutional Review Board at Weill Cornell Medicine in Manhattan. Donald Landolphi has coached baseball since graduating. In 2015, he started teaching the visually impaired to play as part of Baseball for the Blind. In 2022, at the first World Baseball Softball Confederation Blind Baseball International Cup, his team representing the United States won the bronze medal. After 42 years of working with New York City Public Schools as a teacher, guidance counselor, and school administrator, as well as serving as president of Richmond Career and Educational Guidance Services, Joseph Volpe has retired to Florham Park, New Jersey. 1963 Harriet Shenkman has published a new book of poetry titled Re-coupling, which tells the story of meeting the new love. 1964 Ellis Horowitz shares that, along with wife of 57 years, they are rejoicing in their new home after escaping the devastating Palisades fire that destroyed their house in January. They now live five minutes away from three of their grandchildren. Fred Stone and his wife, Bonnie (Dobkin) Stone ’65, have been married for more than 60 years and have recently become great-grandparents. 1967 In 2026, Dr. Lynn Caporale will lead a course, “The Effect of Non-Oncology Drugs on Tumor Growth and Patient Survival,” at Harvard. 1968 Steven Brozinsky is a tenor in the San Diego Jewish Men’s Choir, which will perform at Carnegie Hall on 2026. 1969 Charles Berner has successfully patented a surgical technique to reduce hyperphagia, also known as excessive eating. This spring, Yale University Press published Mark Lowenthal’s Vigilance Is Not Enough: A History of United States Intelligence. Samuel Schwartz recently established a Transportation Research Program at Roosevelt House at Hunter College (CUNY). 1970 Carren Wagner Strock published here ninth book, The Cahill Ghost. 1971 After graduating with B.S. in chemistry, Ronald Silverman began working as a biomedical research technician. He went on to earn an M.S. in bioengineering and a Ph.D. in computer science from Brooklyn Polytech, worked at the Cornell Medical Center from 1982 to 2010, and since 2010, has served as professor of ophthalmic science at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, where he is a researcher and performs clinical ultrasound exams of the eye. Bernard Smolowitz is the founder and principal owner of ReferralsRealEstateAgents.com and is celebrating 22 years of providing free referrals of real estate agents to buyers, sellers, renters, and investors anywhere in the United States and Canada. Nanette Yavel received a doctorate in clinical psychology at age 71 and recently published a book of poetry, Blue Mums, under the name Nina Yavel. 1972 After more than 40 years of teaching, and 11 years editing and later studying the Torah and Hebrew, Elizabeth Clifford Murphy is thrilled about the publication of her first novel, The Faithful Harlot, which follows the Canaanites on their Exodus from paganism to belief in a loving, singular Creator God. 1973 William Trimarco, known professionally as Bill Turner, embarked on his 10th overseas musical tour to perform in Germany to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Bill Haley, who recorded “Rock Around the Clock” with his group the Comets in 1954. Trimarco was the band’s lead guitarist in the mid 1970s and has been a full-time professional musician since 1973. 1975 Elise Glattier-Hollingsworth received her M.S. Ed. with specialization as a reading specialist and certified as a teacher 50 years ago. In 2025, she graduated from Rice University with her Master of Liberal Studies. 1977 Robert Firestone was confirmed as president of the New York City Tax Commission by the New York City Council in 2025. He also serves as commissioner on the New York City Tax Appeals Tribunal and an adjunct professor of law at New York Law School. 1978 Perla de Leon’s photography is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, El Museo del Barrio, Gracie Mansion, and the soon-to-open Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles. 1982 After retiring from his positions as guitar instructor at the Lois Cowles Harrison Center for the Visual and Performing Arts and guitar professor at Southeastern University, Robert Phillips has been focusing much of his energy on composing new music for solo classical guitar. He is pleased to announce that he has just signed a publishing contract with the Danish music publishing house Bergmann Edition. 1988 Mary Beth Dawson, Ph.D. is the associate provost and dean of health programs at Kingsborough Community College (CUNY). Prior to her current role, she was a professor of biological sciences and department chair. 1991 Kim Renay Anderson published UR Dead2 Me!: Chronicles of Adults Raised as an Entitled Spoiled Brat. This anthology shares stories of adults that reveal the consequences of how entitlement, when nurtured in childhood, can carry over into adulthood, ultimately to the individual’s disadvantage. 1992 Denise Gaffor shares that Brooklyn College inspired a lifelong commitment to learning that led her to earn an M.P.A., M.B.A., Ed.S., and Ph.D. Gaffor has explored diverse career paths in health care, human resources, education, and retirement program administration. For the past six years, she has had the privilege of leading the New York State Voluntary Defined Contribution Program for SUNY. 1993 Brooke Wiese’s second chapbook, Memento Mori: A Book of Sonnets, was just released. Wiese studied with Allen Ginsberg, among other literary legends, at Brooklyn College and has spent her entire career at nonprofit community-based organizations and in education. Wiese currently teaches at a special education school in Manhattan as a college and postsecondary counselor. 1997 Zeeva Bukai’s debut novel, The Anatomy of Exile, begins with a modern-day Romeo and Juliet story between a Palestinian and a Jew, explores the struggle to keep a family intact, and grapples with how exile forces us to reshape our identity in ways we could not imagine. 2007 Omar Olivera recently presented his artwork in Richmond Hill and has a piece in Flushing Town Hall’s exhibition “Comics in the City: Sequential Art Is…” 2011 Danielle Silverman participated in Humanitarian Philanthropy with the American Red Cross’ Service to the Armed Forces, where Silverman is a U.S. ambassador volunteer for active military, veterans, and their families. 2012 Since earning a B.A., Jocelyn Brooks has grown as an educator, social worker, and empowerment coach. Brooks went on to earn an M.S.W. from Silberman School of Social Work, a master’s in educational leadership from Wingate University (2020), hosts the podcast IF: Glow Forward, and published her first book, From Stuck to Spark. She is a proud member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. 2019 After graduating, Jonathan Dalloo has served as both an ambassador with the Management & Strategy Institute and a senior fellow with the MSI Business Leadership Council, which has allowed him to promote global certifications and collaborate with visionary leaders to advance business leadership excellence. 2021 After graduating with an M.F.A. in media scoring, Kyle Acheson works as an assistant composer for the Showtime series Dexter: Resurrection, creating the theme for the new character Leon Prater, played by Peter Dinklage, that uses skills he honed at Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema. Share Your News Use the Class Notes form to share your news in our next issue.
