Mary Townley 804.307.3608
hoodmlt@aol.com

Hello Class of 1983! Thank you to classmates for their recent news.   I’ll begin with news from our friend, Jennie Grimes:  “After 9 companies, 41 countries, 3.1 million air miles and 6 states, Jennie Grimes retired from a 37-year career in high tech.  I now live in Asheville, NC and can highly recommend mountain life, craft breweries, waterfall hiking in the Blue Ridge and Smokey Mountains and watching bears eat her peach crop.  If anyone’s in the area, please holler if you want a cup of coffee or a sit on the porch. I also heard from Pamela Stamey Inskeep.  She reports, “I still work part-time at my local library as a Circulation Aide and I lead the fiction and nonfiction book discussion groups there. Love it! In December, a boy I had tutored in math for 5 years reached the point where he doesn’t need me anymore – he is consistently getting A’s and B’s on his own, so we said our goodbyes. It was bittersweet. I was overjoyed with his progress but sad I wouldn’t be seeing him once every week. His parents and grandparents were lovely, kind and very generous. I started crocheting again in the past 2 years. It is very calming, and I get a feeling of true accomplishment and success upon finishing a project, mostly afghans but I might try a shawl or cardigan later on. I am also an avid reader – book group books and others for pleasure and increasing my knowledge. I always loved a good mystery. I reconnected with Kathleen Danielle Arbaiza LeComte. She wrote me last January or February and I have been a terrible friend – I have yet to respond – but I will, soon. My daughter now works at a charter school in Philadelphia, PA. She is a professional teaching coach or mentor, which means she teaches other teachers how to be great teachers.” Deborah Single Hays, (my favorite and only Hood roommate) reports, “Matthew (23) moved into his place in North Canton, Ohio and is now working as a wire line engineer for Baker Hughes in Massillon, Ohio. Stephen is in the process of moving to Iowa City, Iowa for a new job at the University of Iowa beginning on February 1st. He will be a full professor in both pediatrics and pediatric anesthesia. I will remain in Nashville until at least May 2020 when Timothy graduates form University School of Nashville. Lots of change all in a short period.” Kim Hall writes “It’s been an amazing year of transition. My brother (who some people met at reunion) and I have been helping my parents move and adjust to live in a senior community in Baltimore. Everyone was sad to leave a house that has been very good to the family, but it’s good to have more support for them.  Mom and I ended up being in the same publication! The new volume, If I Survive: Frederick Douglass and Family in the Walter O. Evans Collection edited by Celeste-Marie Bernier and Andrew Taylor, includes photos of some of my Mom’s quilts and an afterword by me a long with beautiful never-before seen materials from the Frederick Douglass family. Both os us were thrilled to be able to participate in the global celebration of the Frederick Douglass bicentennial.  Right now, I am writing captions for images of my Mom’s quilts that will be on display along with Frederick Douglass materials at the Maryland State House in Annapolis.  In the meantime there has been a lot of interest in my book project, Othello Was My Grandfather: Shakespeare and Race in the African Diaspora.  I just got back from giving a talk in Chicago and will be giving talks in Arizona and DC as well as a keynote address at the British Shakespeare Association in Wales.   Hopefully between all of these trips, I can get in some quilting and more  time with family!”

I, Mary Townley, broke my foot in December and am hoping to be out of my boot by March.  Our daughter, Emily, returned from a semester abroad in Perugia, Italy in mid-December. Carol and I were blessed to spend a week with her in Italy in late October. She had an amazing semester and now returns to Roanoke College to finish her junior year.  In May, she will depart for Kenya for 2 weeks as her May term experience.  She is loving life!  My non-profit, The Next Move Program, continues to do job training with young adults with special needs in the Richmond area.  We will begin pilot programming at The College of William and Mary in February and we are hoping to open a bakery in Richmond to provide job training and internship experiences for young adults with special needs.  Lots going on! Thanks to all and be sure to look me up in Richmond. Be safe everyone and be kind to one another. -Mary