James Wynne

Maddi was a rare and beautiful soul, and I feel so blessed to have known her.

I knew her “at a distance,” since I thought she was the one of the most beautiful of all of our female classmates, but I was too shy to approach her personally. I still admire her artwork, which was published in our high school student newspaper, decorated our class parties, and I can still be seen it in our “Arista”, for which she served as Art Editor.

I also knew she was a close friend of our “superstar” classmate Donny Bloch, and I was jealous. Donny was our class valedictorian, and he was certain to get into any college he wanted to attend. Of course he got into Harvard, and that’s where he went. Looking back, knowing Donny’s pervasive excellence inspired me to work harder, which really paid off. Maddi went to college at the Rhode Island School of Design, in Providence, RI. I recall that she once visited Donny at Harvard during our freshman year, and many of our Harvard classmates saw her and wanted to know how he knew this very beautiful girl. See what Maddi wrote about him in his "In Memory" page.

After high school, the next time I met Maddi was in 1990 at our 30^th high school Reunion.  After that reunion, I was in San Jose for a conference, and I visited her at her home in Santa Cruz. Her house was like a "museum," filled with her and other people's artwork. She also took me shopping and bought me a special tie made of colored metal links, not of cloth or silk. I still have that tie, and it reminds me of her extraordinary artistry.

Over the next 3 decades, we frequently communicated by email. Once she told me about the vacation she and her daughter, Yvonne, took to Sedona, AZ, where they stayed at the Enchantment Resort, a place that she described as "Heaven on Earth." Since my wife and I frequently vacation in Sedona, on our next trip, in memory of Maddi, we'll be sure to stay at this Resort, a place that mirrors the beauty that Maddi, herself, embodied.

I'm so saddened to learn of Maddi's passing. I was last in contact with her this past December, and I had no inkling that she was not in excellent health.

After I dry my tears, I will compose a longer In Memory about Maddi, an artist par excellence. 

Posted on: Sep 04, 2023 at 12:26 PM

I remember Jane as sweet, kind, and generous. In my copy of our Class of 1960 Arista, she wrote "To a great athlete, genius, and very modest boy." That's what I call generosity.

Upon learning of the passing, in 2013, of Lewis Love, our greatest of all science teachers, she wrote " Now, I was the really lucky one: he was my teacher in 7th, 9th, & 12th grade.  His enthusiasm, ability to perk a student's interest in science, and endearing manner influenced me on so many levels. Among his many gifts, I learned to think like a scientist and to teach the scientific method to so many children over the years. I majored in Chemistry (most unusual for a female in those days), I worked as a chemist (truly an oddity in the 60's), and I taught in the field (passing on his methods and values).  For me, his most valuable legacy was an understanding of horrific consequences of nuclear bombs and plants.  How sad how few today truly understand the implications.  He will always be a part of my heart."

And Jane, you too will always be a part of my heart! Rest in peace.

Michael was a renowned leader in studying and using light, in particular lasers, for biological
studies and bioengineering applications. He made significant contributions to using light to alter, manipulate, and analyze cells and tissue. This includes the development of the laser-based microscopy tools, known as laser scissors and tweezers, and combining them with computer imaging, robotic tools, microfluidics, and molecular imaging biosensors. These technologies are used to study cell phenomena such as cell motility, mechanisms of mitosis/meiosis, DNA repair, neuronal repair and regeneration, and various problems in developmental biology.

After high school, Michael went to Cornell to study biology, and I went to Harvard to study physics. We reconnected in the early 1980s when he founded the Beckman Laser Institute (BLI) and Medical Clinic in Irvine, CA, in 1982. This was just after my IBM Research colleagues and I discovered excimer laser surgery in 1981. Had Michael's institution been physically closer to my institution in Westchester County, I would almost certainly have entered into collaborations with his team at the BLI. As it turned out, the application of excimer laser surgery to LASIK and PRK evolved from my team's collaboration with ophthalmologists based at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City. Michael cited our discovery of excimer laser surgery as seminal, and he used it in his undergraduate and graduate courses at UC Irvine and UC San Diego as a primary example of how an invention makes it all the way from the US Patent stage, referring to the original patent of my IBM team, to a highly successful commercial product that benefits millions of people.

I remember reading Michael's article "Laser microsurgery in cell and developmental biology," Science, Vol. 213, pp. 505-513 (1981), which described using laser microbeams for microirradiation of selected nucleolar genetic regions and for laser microdissection of mitotic and cytoplasmic organelles, and realizing that lasers could lead to a revolution in bioengineering. His article "Laser Surgery," Scientific American, Vol. 264, No. 6, pp. 84-91 (JUNE 1991), provided an excellent review of the state of the art in 1991 and anticipated advances that have occurred in the ensuing 3 decades. Michael's scientific innovations earned him the nickname “the father of laser microbeams.”

I share the grief with his family over the loss of their loved one. He was an remarkable scientist, who made many valuable contributions to the world. 

Tamara Metz Karn, Michael's daughter, remembers her father, who passed away on 8/13/22:

My most cherished memories of my father are of his relationships with animals and his curiosity about nature.  When I was about 18 months old, he was suppose to be babysitting me while my mother took my brother to a horseback riding lesson to do something special with him; dad took me to the stable to watch my mom and brother ride, and he took me to pet the horses.  (We have a photograph of this in the family album.)  When we moved to California in 1972, dad bought horse property and two horses.  I remember trail riding with him  and learning about the California landscape …the Avocado trees, Orange trees, Walnut trees, Eucalyptus trees, Artichokes; we spotted coyotes, rattlesnakes, hawks, owls, roadrunners.  He taught me to be observant of the natural world.  He inspired and enabled my love for horses to grow into a passion and a talent.  I became an accomplished equestrian as an adolescent and into my teen years.  Despite my father’s career and travels, he somehow never missed one of my competitions.  He and my mother traveled all over Southern California to watch my horse shows, and they supported this expensive sport in every way possible.  The bonds my father had with all of our animals  (horses, dogs, rabbits, fish) I have inherited. 

Posted on: May 13, 2022 at 10:00 AM

Tucson is quite a change from Sonoma. I don't know any vineyard owners in Tucson, so I can't take you to any such place in Tucson. Maybe we'll go to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum the next time I'm in Tucson.
All my best!

Posted on: Mar 19, 2022 at 4:33 AM

My wonderful physics teacher, Lewis E. Love, passed away in January 2013.

On the occasion of their 50th Reunion, four members of the Great Neck North HS Class of 1963 decided to create the Lewis E. Love Memorial Science Education Award. After one of them heard my eulogy at Mr. Love's funeral, he asked me to join his team to raise money from our Great Neck classmates to fund the Love Award. So I sent out an email to all of our Great Neck HS Class of 1960 classmates. 

Many of you remembered Mr. Love as the "best of the best" teachers we had in high school and made donations.  But the STAR donor, by far, was Allan Goldman. Of the ~$140,000 we have raised to fund the Love Award, Allan donated $70,000, $10,000 a year for the past 7 years, from the Sol Goldman (Allan's father) Charitable Trust, where Allan served as a co-Trustee.

I have regularly thanked Allan for his generosity, and I grieve with his family over his passing.

Those of you who remember Allan, please consider contributing your own In Memory entry.

All my best to all of you.

Here is the short obituary for Donny, published in the September - October, 2021, issue of Harvard Magazine:

Donald Alan Bloch, A.B. '64, Ph.D. '71, died January 16 in Amsterdam. He spend most of his life after Harvard in Amsterdam, living first on a houseboat and later in a seventeenth-century house on the Keizergracht. He published several novels and some poetry, and accompanied his partner (later spouse), a Dutch anthropologist, on extended public service projects in Kenya and Indonesia. Inveterate travelers to India, they also collaborated on a book of photographs, Seduced by the Beauty of the World: Travels in India. He leaves his husband, Iman Bijleveld.

Submitted by Elizabeth "Betsy" Marcus (Dowling)

All of us girls remember Sally with great admiration and affection. She was a role model for those of us who aspired to be writers. Her "The Donut Book" is a delicious classic, and she deserves to be remembered as "America's Donut Princess." 

Submitted by Elizabeth "Betsy" Marcus (Dowling)

Like so many of you, I remember Donny with affection and great admiration. He was so accomplished in so many ways, and he provided leadership to all of us and advice whenever anyone asked for help. He was one of a kind.

Posted on: Mar 19, 2021 at 4:33 AM

Donny and I were not only in high school together, we were both at Harvard for college and graduate school  In grad school, I formed a squash racquets team that competed in the Boston area "B" league competition. Donny was one of the members of my team during the 1966-67 academic year. In browsing through my scrap book from my Harvard years, I came across this picture:

I'm kneeling on the right, Donny is squatting in the middle, and the four others are my grad school classmates and friends.

This picture brings back very fond memories. Donny was very special, and I think about him often, as do many of you.

Wishing you good health and a happy and fulfilling future.

I learned of Don's passing from Roz Avnet and informed Bobby Hamburger and Arthur Levi, who had been in regular contact with Don. They told me that he had died from COVID on January 15th. He had suffered from Parkinson's Disease for many years, which prevented him from attending our 50th reunion.

Don was our GN North valedictorian. He was Chief Editor of our ARISTA. If my memory serves me well, he was also the top Latin scholar in NY state. Not only was he our top scholar in high school, he was also with me on our high school math and tennis teams.

He would get into any college to which he applied, and the winner was Harvard, where he earned his BA in 1964 and PhD in 1971. 

Knowing his all-around excellence in high school encouraged me to reach higher, and I was rewarded by also getting admitted to Harvard. That's a debt to Don that I can never repay.

Don lived in Amsterdam for the past many decades (maybe ~40 years). He was a creative writer par excellence. I recommend that you find and read his book "Seduced by the Beauty of the World: Travels in India," with photos from his companion Iman Bijleveld, published by Harry N. Abrams in 2003.

Jim

1/23/2011 -  Great to see all these comments, which recall how much we admired Donny and share how much he meant to us.