Send things you would like to share to info@gnalumni.org.* Since the address above serves web sites for all the Great Neck high schools, please help us out by including information identifiying which school you are referring to.
John Grimm (jpgrimm@yahoo.com) writes:
I stumbled across the website for Great Neck High's alumni page, and
am hoping that you may be able to help out with a little genealogical
research I am conducting on my Grandmother and Grandfather - I am writing
in the off-chance that you may be able to put me in contact with anybody
that may remember my grandmother, Ms. Doris (Dorie) Grace Milligan
(Class of '38 or so) and my grandfather, John Edwin Hamilton-Jones
(Class of 37 or 38). Perhaps somebody knew my grandfather's brother -
Robert Hamilton-Jones. Both boys may have gone by Jones.
Are there any yearbooks from that era available? If it is not too much trouble, I would dearly love to hear from you -
Joan Sherman (joani@mindspring.com) writes:
Hi, I am wondering if there is any information about the faculty at
the GNNSHS. I am particularly looking for Gary Price, social studies
teacher who taught the class in 1961. If you have any information,
I would appreciate it.
Laura Lehrman (laura.lehrman@gmail.com) writes:
North High School, Class of '54
Our last reunion was in '02, what do you think about trying to do another one?
[Well... who wants to step up and put one together?]
Michelle Eisenkraft (me2357@columbia.edu) writes:
I am writing from the Science Honors Program at Columbia University. The
Science Honors Program is an extracurricular Saturday morning program
for high school students who have demonstrated exceptional talent in
the fields of math and science. The program has been in existence since
1958, and enrolls high school students residing in the tri-state area.
We are currently attempting to contact alumni from our program in order
to learn about what they have accomplished in their current fields. Not
surprisingly, a large number of our students attend or have attended
the Great Neck public Schools. We would appreciate any assistance you can
offer in providing current addresses/contact information for our list
of alumni. We look forward to your reply. Thank you for your help,
Michelle Eisenkraft
Laura Gal writes that Dr. Phil Mogul died of a heart attack in December 2008.
[Ed. If someone can point me to an obituary, I would be grateful.]
A Tribute to Dr. (Philip H.) Mogul
I have just come across the posting from Paul Marcy (and Faye Zuckerman) about the publication of my book Felon for Peace: The Memoir of a Vietnam-Era Draft Resister.
Yes, Paul is correct that I was a 1969 graduate of South. And, yes, Paul is correct that the book is available on Amazon.com.
Let me also add a bit to what Paul said. My book is also being published next month (December 2005) in Vietnam. This is the first time in history that a book by an American peace activist has been published in Vietnam. I will be going to Hanoi next month for some book-launching events there being arranged by the Vietnamese publisher. The Vietnamese edition of the book includes an Introduction by Professor Duong Trung Quoc. Although (of course) completely unknown in the United States, Professor Quoc is a prominent scholar and historian in Vietnam. He is the General Secretary of the Vietnam History Association and the Editor-in-Chief of Xua & Nay (Past and Present) Magazine. He is also a member of the National Assembly.
I have been very fortunate that the book has received very favorable published reviews in the United States. Interestingly, one review was by Mark Rudd, the last National Secretary of SDS and a founder of the violent Weather Underground Organization. Throughout my book, I compare and contrast the use of violence and the use of nonviolence as social-change techniques. I argue consistently in favor of nonviolence, and I use the Weather Underground as a foil in several places. In that context, the favorable review from Rudd, a former member of the Weather Underground was of special interest to me. In retrospect, Rudd has concluded that the Weather Underground's experiments with revolutionary violence may have been a mistake.
I send greetings to all of you South alums!
Jerry Elmer
I thought you might be interested in this information about Jerry Elmer, who was graduated from South in 1969? He's a former Kensington kid. His memoirs, Felon for Peace (I believe you can buy it at Amazon.com) were just published. In the book, he talks a lot about his days at South. (He even discusses the dress code!)
Below is an excerpt from Jerry that he wrote for a newsletter that goes to members of GNS '69.
My older sister knew him from Kensington. She said he was such a character. Jerry lives in Providence, and I recently had lunch with him. He's no longer a character? Just a regular guy. He's married to a doctor and has three children, one of whom is in medical school. He's still friendly with seven men from his year, and they still get together. Faye
From Jerry Elmer:I am delighted to report that my book was published this month by Vanderbilt University Press. The book is Felon for Peace: The Memoir of a Vietnam-Era Draft Resister.
Although the word "memoir" appears in the subtitle, the book is actually part memoir and part political history. The memoir portions may be especially interesting to my classmates from South, as there is much material in the book that will be familiar to them. The first several chapters deal with anti-war activities when we were students, and several of our classmates and teachers appear both in the text and in the photographs. For example, on page 55, there is a photo of Dave Chawes, Pam Fadem and me burning Dave's draft card on September 5, 1969, and on page 19 there is a picture of our teachers, Mr. Parker and Mr. Horne, arriving at the Peace School at Temple Israel during the Academic Strike in April 1968.
To be fair, I must also point out that much of the book covers the period after high school. As some of my classmates know, during the 18 months after we graduated, I burglarized 14 draft boards in three states. At each local board we destroyed the files of men eligible to be drafted and wiped out all three parts of the draft boards' cross-reference system. (The book does discuss at some length the Providence draft board raid in June 1970, a burglary pulled off by a group largely comprised on classmates from South. We called ourselves the Rhode Island Political Offensive For Freedom, a name we chose because of the acronym it created.)
When I later (much later!) attended Harvard Law School, I was the only convicted felon in the graduating class of 1990. In pair of ironic twists, I graduated from law school on the twentieth anniversary of the Providence draft-board raid, and I was sworn in as a member of the federal bar in the same courtroom where I had been sentenced for that raid.
From DornyMom@aol.com:
It is with great sadness that I have to report the passing of our beloved
classmate Ira Goldwyn. He had a giant heart and was the glue that kept our
class in touch all these years. His inspirational words and courageous spirit
will live on in our hearts forever.
We will miss you Ira.
From: Sue (Gary) Mazel "mazelsing"
via Rich & Ruth Brachman
Dear Classmates
It is with a tremendous weight of sorrow that I write you all to
note the passing of our beloved friend, Ira Goldwyn. He had such a
tremendous will to live. If the strength of his spirit and clarity
of his mind were the only measures that would sustain him in life,
hen he would be living today, tomorrow, and for many many years.
unfortunately, his body did not cooperate. This morning, his will to
live lost the battle with a body which was too weak to sustain him.
He tried so hard to make it, at least until our 25th reunion.
He called me, out of the blue, last Friday... so ready to make the connection with us all via the internet and teleconferencing!! He wanted to see and hear from all of us... it truly kept him alive this long!!! He spoke about how he loved seeing and hearing from all who made contact with him while he was in Florida... and that he was ready to sit back on the sidelines and trust that the reunion (and all else) would go as it had been planned, and that everyone would do what they had said they would do.
This morning, before receiving the call from Ira's sister, Laura, my daughter (home sick from school) brought me a box of photos which I had not un-sealed in the 3 1/2 years since we moved. She wanted to see what was inside. There inside, just looking out at us, were a handful of tiny black & white snapshots from high school and from the "3 Penny Opera" the summer of 1982... I showed them to her... said: Do you know who took these photos? and she said: "That guy Ira!" ... he had the gift of seeing all of us at the best of our "game" and then sharing his vision and memories, by giving us the photos which he snapped and developed for years and years. Ironically, I don't think that there are more than one or two photos of Ira around... does anyone have any to share?
We were so lucky to have him as our friend... Ira was a wonderful man, a true friend, and a binding source of comfort for all who knew him. I will miss him.
May Ira's memory be for a blessing to us all.
Sadly, Suzy Mazel
From: David Jasse
Ira Goldwin, the organizer of the 1980 Great Neck South reunion, scheduled
for the end of the month passed away today.
From Phil Essex
Most of us remember Ira as one of the photographers in Levels' early
years. He was a key member of this web site, and was one of the
planners of the Amrhein Memorial weekend a few years ago. But most
importantly Ira was an all around good guy, always with a smile and a
joke. He maintained his upbeat persona despite all the physical
setbacks he endured in recent years. I certainly didn't know him as
well as some others here, but we shared some good times together
nonetheless. He will be missed.
Sincerely, Phil Essex
From: Dave Swirsky david@expresswaymusic.com
via Joan Goldberg
via: "Richard Goldberg"
Sad news to report ~ Ira Goldstein passed away yesterday. Ira had been
in ill health for a number of years, and was in Miami waiting for a
liver transplant when he died.
My very close friend Ira Goldwyn (1980) passed away earlier this week. Those
of us from the GN South Class of 1980 will always remember Ira as the "glue"
that held our class together. He was the class historian and took thousands
of pictures of all of us in
our life at GN South. At our 20th reunion(which he coordinated)he put
hundreds of random photos he took during elementry school and high school on
each table to the delight and fascination of the alumni. Our 25th reunion
is coming up next sat(oct 29th,2005)which he also put together. I will miss
him terribly.
Good bye dear friend Ira I will never forget you.
Jon White (urban@netacc.net) writes:
Hi Great Neck South Alumni,
I'm Jon White, a 1976 graduate of Great Neck South. Since I
graduated I've done a lot of work perfecting my skills in Photography, I
eventually got my degree in photography from the Rochester Institute of
Technology in 1983, and I've had a lot of gallery experience. I've also
branched out into Digital Art based on my photography. I have a couple
of websites to share, http://urban.home.isp-direct.com/ is my website.
Here you can see a lot of samples of my work.
http://www.frontiernet.net/~jwhite1/ is the website for a major project
I'm in charge of. I'm serving as the curator of a group art show for
the artists from my fraternity at RIT, AEPi. For more information
about any of this, please e-mail me at urban@netacc.net
The GN North Class of '74 is having their 30th year reunion on Saturday, May 22nd, 2004. This exclusive event will be held at Kings Point Merchant Marine Academy's Officer's Club, with full white-glove service, an exceptional dinner and much more, all overlooking Long Island Sound. Organizers Benjy Sax, Debi Murray, Andy Chaiken, Cindy Hedeman, Billie Berkowitz, David Feldman, Nancy Schulman, Cindy Korman, Elon Harpaz and Patty Katz are all volunteering their efforts to ensure this event Sells Out shortly. To reserve your spot contact '74 alumnus Jeffrey Boudin at: Jeff@CorporateChallenge.com.
I loved reading all these little letters on your site. They were very interesting to read. As a young man, I love it when classmates are friendly. I had many friends at Archbishop Molloy High School and have friends from various alma maters my age. I really love how you let your students say what they feel on line and on this site. It is very social and very open.
I realize this is an unusual request, but I hope some will take me up on this invitation.
There is a great deal of information about the case at www.FreeJesse.net
My hope is that if I can locate any of my relatives in the Great Neck School records, I may be able to find out something about my Great-Grandparents name. The only information I have is that both my Grandmother and her older sister, went to Arrandale School which no longer exists. They would have been students in the 1920's and early 30's.
Would you know if there is any way for me to contact anyone at the main office and see if I can locate any information? I would greatly appreciate any help that you may be able to provide.
I am an attorney by trade, but am currently researching similar energy saving devices for a paper. If possible, I would like to interview the students for my paper. If you have any information, I would be most grateful.
P.S. My sister, Gillian Clarke, was valedictorian (with male fellow classmate - Charlie???) - she would love to hear from anyone who remembers "that English girl"!!
I am a highschool student in China of your age
when I saw your porformance on the TV, I thought you were very very beautiful.
Congratulations.Your porformance was so perfect that I didn't know how
to discribe it .
And I want to make friend with you. I hope that you can answer me.
A few days later will be your birthday and I hope that you will have a
good time!!!!
Hi Sarah!, maybe it's too late, but I didn't know this page. Your
performance in Salt Lake was wonderful. You give hope to a hurt United
States. You are a example to follow for the youth. Thanks, you are a
beautiful inspiration.
Anton Pierre-Houston
Dear Sarah,
I never would of thought that someone from Great Neck would end up
winning a gold medal. I used to live in Great Neck before I had to move down
here to Bayside. Although I still live in Queens, I wish I would still be in
Great Neck. You certainly proved me wrong Sarah, and I hope u represent
Queens till the end.
Your Fan, Joshua
Sarah,
Congrats on winning OLYMPICS GOLD! I too am a figure skater, although
not nearly your level! ;-) I wish you the best of luck for years to
come. I can't wait to see you at the 2005 Nationals in Portland, Oregon!
Love Always, Ashley Mount
Hi Sarah,
I have skated with you a few times at the ice House. I won my first gold
medal there last year when I was ten. You posed with me for a
picture.
Congratulations on your first Olympic gold medal.
It's my dream to go to the Olympics and win a gold medal too. My family
is going to drive out from PA to see your parade on Sunday.
Love, Goldie
Hello, I am a sophomore in high school and watched your performance it was
wonderful, graceful, and just really darn great. I was wondering if I could
do a a story on you for one of my classes I am sure you receive a lot of
letters and stuff (like receiving the key to NY City)..but if you do get this
I would really appreciate it a lot ..
Cordially yours, Robert L. Williamson
Greetings Sarah,
What is left to say about Sarah? Essentially speechless, I've
composed a visual form of celebration to you for your Olympic 2002
accomplishment:
http://home.att.net/~Free_expressions02_USA/Sarah.html
May your future be ever golden and fulfilled.
From a quixotic baby-boomer, thank you for demonstrating with
such beauty on ice, dreams can come true, when you're young at heart
and imbued with boundless spirit and grace.
Sincerely, G. Adams
Dear Sarah,
Your Olympic performance was spectular. Congratulations on the win in
Salt Lake City. I look forward to seeing you live at competitions and ice
shows. You made these Olympics so memorable and you are AWESOME on the ice.
Marian, Brooklyn, NY
Congratulations! I enjoyed your performance in Salt Lake. You were the
best skater of the games. Good luck in torino!
My name is Aquiles Ruiz. I'm from Guadalajara, Mexico.
Sarah,
You are a great skater and I love watching you skate. I can't wait to
see you in Syracuse at the Chapions on Ice tour because your so beutiful and
talented. Good Luck with your skating and on getting that 1600 on the SAT's
like you want.
Mike
Congratulations on your first Olympic Gold Medal!!
I just wanted to say that your performance on Thursday
evening was spectacular! It was that most beautiful
performance I have ever seen. Keep up the good work, I
hope to see you at the 2006 Winter Olympics!
P.S.: Your Encore Presentation on Friday Night was very touching.
Like I said, keep up the good work. Congratulations!!!
Robert Townsend, Sonora, CA
hi sarah,
my name is katelin. I wanted to say that you did fabulously on your
long program. I love to ice skate too. You are my favorite female
ice skater and timothy is my favorite male. I can't wait to see
you and tim in Champions on ice June 18!!!!
Love ya!
~kat~
P.S.can you tell tim that I think he is an awesome skater
Sarah...
We love to watch figure skating but we do not follow it. We just
enjoy it during the Olympics for its beauty, grace, and skill.
We watched and enjoyed the short program. We were excited that three
U.S. skaters where so close and had high hopes for all of you. And,
as was all, we were excited to see how the long performance would turn
out and would Michelle Kwan beat the Russian skater, and would Sasha
and you perform well enough to sweep the medals. Not knowing you or
Sasha as well, our attention was focused mostly on Michelle. Then you
skated your long performance and I was captivated by it. I had never
seen a more flawless and beautiful performance... you were magnificent.
I have never been that impressed with a performance as I was with
yours.... Awesome, totally awesome. From one not that familiar with
technique or presentation, I just knew I had seen a performance that
reached out and touched me... it was such a pleasure to watch.
At that time I began to root for you... all others were measured against your performance, whether you would get a medal or not I had seen the very best, and watching the rest of the performances I was right. you were the best. I do not know about how they score or anything... but I knew you deserved the GOLD that day, and when it turned out you did win I was so excited. I was thrilled at your excitement. You were so very beautiful to watch that day... thank you for the memorable performance. I only wish I had a video of it. I told my wife how great you were when she got home and she wished she could have watched you... (she was mad that I did not video the Olympics that night). I do not usually get that excited over skating. You were awesome!
Congratulations again... and thank you for such a wonderful
memory... Good luck in your future performances... I will watch for them
now with more interest. Your magnificent, skill, poise, appearance,
everything... stay that way!
Sincerely: Ken Glover
hi! I'm part of a Yahoo! Group called: Sarah Pure Talent our website
is: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sarahpuretalent and I'm proud to say
that we are the biggest Sarah Hughes' Fan club... we have 300 members
since Sep. 12 2001. And we all share the same love: for skating and
for Sarah!! Congrats on what was the best program I've seen in a long
long time!!
claudia
Hi,
My name is Michael,I am 17 years old and i am from Greece, Pireus....I
would like to send SARAH HUGHES my best congratulations for your great
succes in Salt Lake City...I Will tell you my dream, two years now i
want to see you from close up, i hope so some day to see ;)...Anyway
keep up the good work...you are very beautiful!!!
Michael From Greece...
To Sarah and the Great Neck North High School:
Here in Southern WI, not many know about the skater Sarah Hughes, but
only the Gold Medallist. Well, I've been a fan for a few years and would
just like to give a digital "pat on the back" to the Champion. Good
Luck in your future career as a skater and a student... Harder roads
will be traveled... And Media is going to be the hardest :P
Peter Romenesko
Congratulations Sarah Hughes
i'm ibrahim, 16, from Turkey. I'm going high school.
i watched you on tv when you were in the skating competition.
When i saw your beautiful eyes, i said Sarah would win and take
gold medal. And you've been succesfull in the competition. ...
İBRAHİM KURDAK İSTANBUL/TURKEY
Congratulations Sarah Hughes,
I grew up in Great Neck and have not been there for over 10 years. I
spent practically every day childhood, ages 4 to 16, living at Parkwood
pool in the summer, and the skating rink during the winter. Watching Sarah
Hughes skate and win reminded me of all the good times at Parkwood. Thanks
Sarah for bringing back my childhood, if for only a few moments.
Michael Morguess, North Senior, Class of 84
I have no connection with your high school - I remember hearing that Sarah is a student at Great Neck North High School so I looked it up on the web and found a place to connect with her (hopefully).
I am a flutist who just performed in a recital on 2/24. I have to tell whoever reads this email letter that Sarah has inspired me to "go for it" more than any skater/athlete/artist has in quite a while. I really appreciate the inspiration - I usually play well but I played REALLY well this past Sunday. You skate so musically. You rose to the heights of the artistry of the composers whose music you skated to (and that takes some doing!).
Thanks again, Sarah, for the great inspiration.
Becky McClure, Kirksville, MO
Congratulations Sarah on your great victory...you worked hard for it!
You have made not only Great Neck, but the whole country proud of you.
Glenn Zagoren, GNN Class of '71, Zamboni operator at Parkwood '70-'71,
CEO, PNL-TV
With all the controversy surrounding the Olympics this year, you made us
all proud to be Americans and especially proud to be Great Neckers!!
Looking forward to watching you skate for years to come now that Scott
Hamilton has retired!
Michelle Price - class of '71
Before the Salt Lake Olympics we had never heard of Great Neck. We are
avid Olympic fans and on that Thursday
night Sarah's performance touched us all. She was judged the best in
Figure Skating because in Salt Lake City she was the best. It simply
doesn't get any better than that. How proud the Hughes family, coach
Robin Wagner and Great Neck must be. We don't know if this letter will
reach Sarah. If it does, we just wanted to say Congratulations! If you
decide to try for Italy in 2006 we'll be cheering for you all the way.
If not, may good fortune follow wherever life leads you.
Chris & Dawn Thompson, North Bonneville, Washington
Watched with amazed joy when Sarah took the gold. She excelled
that night. Hope her head stays on straight and doesn't
swell. Felt badly for Michelle, but she was gracious and
is still a champion. The photo of the school could have been
taken from my old bedroom window when I lived on Polo Road. Nice
job with the website!
Michael S. Bumagin, M.D. Class of '59
I have not been in Great Neck for many years but when I watched
Sarah Hughes from Great Neck
win the Gold Medal at the olympics I felt so proud. It was like I had
been there yesterday. Congratulations!
Alice, Class of 66
Like so many other people all over the world, I watched the young ladies skate last night...but unlike most others, I was cheering for a student at my high school! Sarah skated like an angel and the gold medal suits her magnificently. My congratulations to her, the US Olympic team, Great Neck North and Great Neck!
Barbara Pilvin '69 (lifelong avid amateur skater) - willowsmom@aol.com
I'm so happy for Sarah and your community. She has to have brightened all your lives there. What a sweet girl. I work at Allegan Public High School in Allegan Michigan, Home of Naomi Lang Figure Skater. I watched her grow up and she has made us all very proud her also! I'll watch my taping of Sarah over and over and smile thinking of How she has Made so many Americans Proud!
Patty Vaughn
Great Neck North must be proud to have such a charasmatic student in their midsts! I live outside Pittsburgh, PA and was truly in awe over Sara's performance! Your school and community must be proud to have an Olympic champion who not only stole the hearts of MILLIONS (including mine) with her performance, but also because she seems to be down to earth and is a true champion! CONGRATUALTIONS!
Kris Mellinger, Creekside, PA
HI!! I LOVE SARAH!! Now she's the bestest skater in the world, although my
and friend and I have ALWAYS thought that. We really REALLY have to go to
Sarah's homecoming parade, but, we don't know when or where it is. Please
email me back any information you have about it [...]
GREAT NECK RULES! GO SARAH!!!
yours trooly,
jennifer hue
I am looking for information on William E. Brown, Great Neck HS Class of 1940. Brown was killed in action in France on January 17, 1945. His family lived at 10 Church St., Great Neck, until moving to Millersville, Pa in the late forties. Brown was survived by his parents, Thomas and Mabel, a sister, Helen, and two brothers, Thomas G. and William E. Brown. Before entering the military, he was assistant manager of the Playhouse Theatre in Great Neck.
If anyone out there remembers Sergeant Brown, I'd like to hear from them. I've spoken to members of his tank crew, and I'd like to hear from his friends or classmates to hear of their impressions of him.
I have a couple of photos of Sgt. Brown on my website at: http://www.cyburban.com/~jopfletch/PurpleHearts/williambrown.html
Please email to foytfan@aol.com.
Dwight Pruitt
I was surfing the net and thought about Great Neck H.S. I moved from a farm town in central Illinois (Trivoli) and spent 2 years at GNHS. Actually, I was an 8th grader during '50-'51 and a freshman '51-'52. We moved back to Illinois in '52. I still think of my 2 years there. I remember the names of a few of my teachers --- W.W. Young, Miss Brimley, Mr. Wishart. I think the principal was Mr. Tucker? I remember many Fri. and Sat. evenings spent at the Community Center---eating frozen Milky Way bars, playing volleyball in a courtyard and watching "Mike Barnett, Private Eye" on the B&W TV. Mike Barnett was played by Ralph Bellamy (deceased). Then there was "I Remember Mama", another great TV serial. Our bus driver was Hank. He drove us to Little Neck where I lived on Concord Ave. (4705). There was a Little Neck movie theater on Northern Blvd., and I remember seeing, 'The Day the Earth Stood Still', a classic movie when it first showed at the Great Neck Theater.
I am a retired physician, now living in Castle Rock, CO.
Sincerely,
Roger A. Williams, M.D.
