Nancy Mervis (Fromson)

Thanks, Torchy, it was great. Much fun to see everyone and catch up a bit. I'd love to do this again.

Jeffrey Pollock (Pollock)

Thank you Torchy.   I believe that I was priviledged to be at Shaker with the most engaging, informed, loving people imaginable.  It hopefully will be give me the opportunity to reestablish friendships, some of which go back to 4th grade at Lomond.  This sense of community is so important in these terrifying times.

Jeff Pollock

Andrew Mellman (Mellman)

Thanks Torchy for orchestrating this - it was fun!  Have a happy and healthy hibernation!

Andy Mellman

Edward Torchy Smith

IN MEMORY:

CAROL AARON BORTZ

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/cleveland-heights-oh/carol-bortz-9110252

passed away April 4th, 2020

Rennie Crane

Thanks Torchy!  What a great idea!  I think it was fantastic and you should do it again!  Sign MB and me up for the second one!  
Anyone that missed it should try it!  

Ellen Kaufman

Torchy, you are really something! What a great way to get grounded during this totally ungrounded time.  Thanks so much for getting the idea and for bringing it to fruition.  When the day comes to look back and share my memories of Corona-19 isolation, our reunion will be one of the high points of this unique experience.

Gerald Keller

It was invigorating to see our collective selves, 55 years after the vim and vigor of our eager young personas were ready to hit the world with gusto.  And now, we are the elder statespersons.  But still pretty fully intact (!), and able to look back on this over half a century of experiences.

I’d be intrigued to know who/what was a driving factor/mentor/challenge that molded our lives over those years.  Was there a person, an idea, or circumstance, that made us tick, and pursue the light which is guiding us currently.  

It would be illuminating to write these, and all of us be able to share in each other’s lives that way.  Maybe we would come up with something that created us Boomers as unique.  Which I know we all are.

Cookie Chesler (O'Neill)

To answer Gerry Keller's question...one of the people who most influenced me (outside of friends, parents, grandparents, etc.), is someone you all might remember...Joe Swazja...our wonderful AP history teacher.  An influence I will never forget.  And ditto what you have all been saying.  The mini reunion was so much fun.  So good to see you all and to know that you are doing well. 

Howard Falcon

it was great to see faces I haven't seen for long time. I enjoyed listening to everyone talk about what they are doing to stay active and how you are living through the period of lock down.

In response to Gerry's question about influencing our lives there are two individuals that I can attribute how I have grown after I left high school, my American History teacher Ms Jones who was constantly on my butt about something but took the time just talk about life and responsibility and then turn around to fill out an application to the University of Indiana and write a recomendation without even asking if I wanted to go there, this woman was just the best.  Then there was Mr. Zednick, Zippy, who taught me perserverance and drive.

The one thing that really sticks in my mind is my second year French and Social Studies teachers who were more worried about my physical well being then my mental processess, which I am sure most of my teachers though was weird. They would both show up for every home wrestling match.

All and all we were very fortunate to have teachers that cared without babying us and help us grow as persons.

Bennett Tramer

Thanks again Torchy for arranging that Zoom Reunion, and thanks to all my classmates who took part.  Most enjoyable, and most needed in this shut-in time.  Please sign me up for the second one, if possible, and hopefully we'll have some new faces too. Interesting question from Gerry about influences. First day of Modern European History Mr. Meshenberg passed around a letter from a former student saying how much his class had helped her with college lectures. I thought it was absurdly egotistical...and then I ending up using his method of outlining all through college and graduate school. Also influential were two teachers I had crushes on - typing teacher Miss Pope at Woodbury and American History teacher Mrs. Abady (spelling?) at Shaker.  I had them in mind when I wrote two crush-on-the-teacher episodes of Saved by the Bell. All the people who clowned around and flouted authority at Shaker influenced my writing too - esp. Snake Plisskin and the comedy team of Treister and Scnheider.  And the long lost Cheri LaGrange, who was way ahead of her time talking back to Mr. Regal - "I don't know and I don't care! No one's ever going to ask me about the Articles of Confederation outside of this class" - as he kept punishing her raising his bony fingers "Write five defitintions at the end of the chapter, Cheryl!  Ten! Fifteen!" "Give me a hundred! No one's ever going to ask me any of those either!" In eighth grade!!

Jeffrey Pollock (Pollock)

Thanks again Torchy for your amazing energy in bringing people together from our class five years ago and again two weeks ago. It made me realize what  a remarkable collection of people that I have not kept in touch with, but this is changing. I can't wait until the next Zoom call.

Gerry Keller made me think about the people from Shaker who had an influence on me. The teachers that  stay with me are Burton Randall from English and the Shakerite, Bob Hanson and Marty Meshenberg, and from Byron Jr High,  Art Weitzner.    Gerry's question caused me to  think about some of the classmates that I sat next to in those classrooms who are gone,  Dan Biello, Annellen Minkin, Nancy Livingston, Alice Galvin, Terry Schnell.

I should point out that Gerry Keller and I were bar-mitzvahed together at Park Synagogue on April 30, 1960. 

At the 50th  reunion I got to see his exceptional glass work.

To my Hollywood classmates, my younger brother, Dale Pollock, is retiring from North Carolina School of the Arts next month where he built their film studies program over 23 years.   He had produced 13 films  as head of A&M Fillms (see IMDB), and when he was with Variety and the LA Times wrote the definitive biography of George Lukas, Skywalking.  He is definitely the most interesting Pollock (besides my wife,  the fiber and mosaic  artist  Nancy Pollock.  www.nancypollockstudio.com. -whom I always promote.)

I intend to reach out to many of you directly  now that I have email addresses.

Edward Torchy Smith

Dear former classmates:

I am looking forward to hosting another ZOOM REUNION this Friday, April 17th.  We are looking for new faces !!!  If you were part of the last one you will automaticall get the email with the link to just click on to join.  The time will be announced well in advance.  If you are new to the group and want to be included then please email me now. Send your request to me at... BabyBoomersTalkRadio@gmail.com  

I can help get the free ZOOM app if you need futher instructions.  We could even do a practice sesson. The first ZOOM get together was real fun and enjoyed by one and all.  What do you have to lose?  I wake up every morning and feel like I am in the Twilight Zone.  This experience may shake you back to reality. 

Sincerely,

Torchy 

Edward Torchy Smith

I am listing another death from our class.  It is JOEL LEVINSON.

I got an email from his domestic partner, Diana Hartman, with a short sentance that he passed away on January 1st, 2020.  I could not find an obituary on Joel and I wrote back asking for more information.  To date I have not recieved anything back. He last resided in Northridge California.  

A few more have come forward to be on our next Zoom Reunion.  Don't get shut out.  Masks are not required !!!

TORCHY 

Helen Kronenberg (Rubel)

Torchy, thanks for arranging another reunion so soon. The last one was so much fun. Everyone looked great. I hope more classmates join, so we can keep in touch with even more friends. -Helen Kronenberg Rubel

Nancy Milgrim (Spiwak)

Good morning ,

I will be joining you on Friday.

Thanks,

Nancy Milgrim Spiwak

Edward Torchy Smith

Greetings fellow Shakerites. Here is something to make you feel worse today in case you don't feel bad enough.  https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/education/shaker-heights-principal-writes-emotional-letter-after-anti-police-graffiti-put-on-school/95-9f47b675-ac5c-4575-9d71-9936dae5fc00

Betsy Slobody (Whitaker)

Torchy:  I can't thank you enough for keeping us informed and pulling us together!!  My few years at Shaker did not allow me to establish the long term relationships so many of you had as you grew up together. I thoroughly enjoy sharing in the recollections of my classmates.  My first year was clouded by my dad's death on Christmas day.  My last year I fell in love with Coach Whitaker and to this day he is the love of my life.  We have lived an adventurous life together and the influence of all my teachers at Shaker made a profound difference in my life.  Lucille Burkett recocognized a talent for sharing and teaching which I utilized many times during my career as the founder of a large real estate brokerage firm, A wholesaler of investments, a Sunday school teacher, and a leader in my community being the first woman president of our Chamber of Commerce. We had one son who is an attorney in Gainesville.  He and his wife Brite have given us two amazing grandchildren, Loren 16 and Casey 12.  As we enter into the last chapter of our life on earth, Doug and I are still adventurous and looking for ways to redefine our lives.  For years we have talked about moving to central Mexico where we can experience spring like weather all year round- no humidity and no hurricanes!!  We shall see!  Blessings to all my classmates.  Your accomplishments continue to amaze and inspire me.

Ronald Adrine (Adrine)

Torch,

To the contrary, the principal's post doesn't make me feel worse, it make me feel better.  I fell like I know that the leadership of the high school is in the hands of someone who has the breadth of experience to understand the meaning of this fraught moment in which he and his students find themselves.  I am comforted by the thought that the principal recognizes the recent teachable moments that he missed.  I am glad that he has the resolve to make sure that he does better, moving forward.

I am heartened by the thought that the principal is one of those Americans who has "awakened" to the fact that American hasn't been America for a majority of black people by any metric that you choose to use since they arrived on these shores.  I light up at the real possibility that our nation may finally be ready to own up to its original sin and move to initiate the remedy for four hundred years of racial inequities. 

It appears that he may be willing to ensure that Shaker's students learn what we were NOT taught--that the statement contained in the Declaration of Independence, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal...," as that phrase was applied to America's people of color has been hypocracy.

I see the possibility of change.  The principal's post makes feel like it's real...but...I've lived long enough to see what appeared to be the possibility of change before.  I saw it during the Civil Rights Movement.  I saw it when the Voting Rights Act was passed.  I saw it when the courts established affirmative action.  I saw it when Barack Obama was elected President.  In each of those prior instances I saw the possibility of remedy slip away as the majority community determined that extending true equality meant that it had to cede too much of its own privilege.  I've lived long enough to learn that no victory is final.

This time feels different. This time feels as though American citizens of all demographics stripes (but particularly younger ones) have come to understand that no one is free until all of us are free; that none of us are safe unless all of us are safe.  They seem to understand that you can't hold someone down in the dirt without getting down in the dirt with them.  They seem to get that it's not about protecting their small sliver of the prosperity pie, it's about figuring out how to bake a BIGGER pie and making sure that everyone gets a larger slice.   

So, I am cautiously optimistic.  By November I'll know whether we have found ourselves in a moment or a movement.  I'm praying for the latter.  Either way, the principal's post make me feel comfortable that the students at SHHS are well-positioned to become part of the solution.

Ron

Edward Torchy Smith

Class:  I am glad Ron responded. In my rush to bring you the news my intention was to bring to light the graffiti incident that “out of towners”  would not hear about.  The bad news was not the letter from the principal.  I actually did not know about this though the local news but was told about it from a friend.

This was the only article I found on Google so I posted it.  This is YOUR forum to reply and other than doing a Zoom Meeting this may stand as the only way to say something to the whole class.  I doubt if their will be another reunion. 

Edward TORCHY Smith

David Brown

Touchy..."I doubt there will be another reunion." Wow. Likely correct...Sadly a profound thought. It does not go on forever...not for anyone...

Jerome Frank

I would like to thank Ron Adrine for his very thoughtful response.  He put the situation in  context.  We attended a school sytem that at the time attempted to be progressive in the area of racial integration.  The efforts were only relative to the times but there were efforts made.

I live in suburban Detroit.  Ron is correct there is no question that it is very differnet this time.  I have hope.

Jerry Frank

Howard Falcon

Ron,

That was a great response and I understand your frustration. Growing up in Shaker was perhaps a totally different environment where I never really thought about racism. it wasn't until just before our senior year that I was in Chicago and saw Rev. King march and people either for or against what he stood for. 

It really wasn't until I was in the service where I was stationed in Huntsville, AL that I was really confronted with racism. I had never seen total segregation as was displayed there. We were denied the ability to eat in restaurants or use facilities because of the group of guys was a mix of white and blacks.  It was while I served in the Army that I truely saw what the world was like outside of Shaker.

After a short stay in the south I was sent to Germany where I was further educated on predudice, not based on race but on religion. Being a Jew I felt anger and resentment from what I would beleive is what Blacks in America have been feeling for a long time.

I can sympathsize and totally understand what you are saying and believe that everyone needs to have a better understanding that laws were made for everyone with no barriers or micro levels of entitlement. Personally I don't know what to say to appologize or to help to make things better. Right now I am working with kids through an organization named CASA, hoping to help kids better understand that there are people that care about them.

Not sure if you even remember me from High School, I was just someone that was there not making too many friends or participating in very  many activities. Be Safe and Keep the Faith, I think this time things will move in the right direction,

Barbara Horovitz (Brown)

 I don't know that Shaker or our H.S. was so "different", Howard. I don't have a lot of memories from H.S., but one I have was of the black students sitting at a separate table at lunch. I remember feeling uncomfortable with this, and wondering why(but I never asked any of them, as I didn't know them well...though I always remember Ron as being a leader). Industries were segregaged and my dad (head of the Cleveland Plumbing Contractors at the time)told us how he had to put up a fight to get Black plumbers admitted to the unions. We all have our own experiences that shape our attitudes. It sounds like you have chosen a helping path, as I have tried to do as well(our religion is rooted in that). I became a social worker, working primarily with mental health center referrals, then the special needs population,  and finally with  hospice. I mostly stood by and watched racism exist. I did organize a group, "Breaking Bread and Breaking Barriers",  of black and white Rhode Islanders to meet and talk monthly for a year, after a shooting of a black man here about 20 years ago. It was in that group that I learned for the first time, about issues like the idea of reparations; and heard about the difficulties of black college women finding black men to date of equal education. I am sorry to say that my interactions with people of color has been way too limited since then, but I am going to try to continue to do what I can to educate myself and others. I am planning to do this by encouraging more diversity on the boards I sit on, and planning a relevant program(perhaps on health disparities) in a hospital group I am President of. 

I think we all have sat on the sidelines watching for too long and need to step up to make change happen. No matter what we do, I suspect racism, and anti-Semitism will still exist, but we and our children should work to make sure no parent has to fear for their child's life when they walk out of the house, will know that their child will have the opportunity for an equal education, and on and on. 

Ronald Adrine (Adrine)

Torchy, Jerry, Howard and Barbara,

Thanks for taking the time to reflect on my response.  Shaker Heights High School in the early '60's may not have been as good as it gets when it comes to racial equality, but it reflected the upper end of intergration efforts in the United States at that time.  

I don't think that any of us can argue with the proposition that black kids did not really socialize with white kids in 1960's Shaker Heights.   Our interacial friendships and interactions were for the most part, and with few exceptions, restricted to the school's campus.  Other than school, we hardly ever ran into one another.  Blacks didn't party with whites, and vice versa.   Interacial dating was an unspoken no-no.    I can count on one hand (and still have fingers left over) the number of times that I ever visited the home of a white classmate.  The same can be said of the number of times that a white classmate ever visited my home.

As I look back on it, though, I never really gave any of that much thought back then.  It was just the way things were.  I never felt at risk of violence, threatened or disrespected by either my fellow students, the faculty or the staff.  I can't say that I was ever the victim of blatant discrimination at any time during my education in Shaker Heights. I would be the first to say that I was given an opportunity to get a world class education in Shaker Heights, for which I will be eternally grateful.  

It was an education that I experienced besides you, but not really with you.  The people I matriculated with were uniformly pleasant.  We spoke, we smiled, we laughed, we joked.  We were cordial, but there always was a subtle but palpable understanding that there were limits.  I sometimes wonder now what the result would have been if the limits had been tested.

All things being equal, going to school with all of you was a positive experience for me, which is why I've stayed engaged with the school and our class over the years.  Yeah, Howard, I remember you.  I used to call by your last name, cause I thought it was cool!! 

Jerry and Barb, I appreciate your insights.  I agree that we have ALL sat on the sidelines too long.  Following the horrific active shooting in Dayton, Ohio last year, many protestors carried signs that had just two words, "DO SOMETHING," emblazoned upon them.

I guess it would be appropriate here to mention my one negative interaction with the Shaker Heights Police Department (such as it was).  One fall Saturday afternoon, a group of black boys (all Shaker Heights residents) gathered to play a game of touch football in the vacant lot on Onaway Road that stretches between Aswood and Becket.  In the winter, the lot was flooded and used for ice skating, by residents who were predominently white, so we knew it was a recreational space.  We were there less than twenty minutes when four or five  police cruisers arrived, stopped our game and demanded that we each provide either ID or personal information.  We were informed that we could not play football there and that now that they knew who we were if we were ever found there again we would be charged with delinquency and/or trespass.  That certainly wasn't brutality, but it did seem as though we were treated differently, and it made us wonder if race had anything to do with that differnece

It appears that the time has come for us all to have the discussion about the differences in our life experiences, and the reasons for those difference and why so many of of those differences are perceived to be grounded in racial attitudes  If we believe in true eqality for all Americans, this seems like a moment that can turn into a movement, if we heed the admonition, figure out how we can up our game, and DO SOMETHING!!

Keith Lacy

• Hi all!  I can't recall that I have posted any thing, except the response to James Parshall's passing a few years ago.

• I have to say, in all honesty, I never noticed the division between the racial students.  It is a shamefull note on my observations during my years at SHHS.