On October 3, 2014, it was announced that Sean Solomon, director of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, will receive the National Medal of Science at a White House ceremony later this year. The medal was created in 1959 and is administered for the White House by the National Science Foundation. Awarded annually, it recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to science and engineering.

On October 12 I returned home from the most exciting trip of my life, during which I visited two world-famous Neolithic monuments in England, two medieval English cathedrals, a number of archaeological sites in Turkey, and lived through a Kurdish riot that briefly threatened our tour bus and its passengers. I had been warned that it might not be safe to travel in Southeastern Turkey. Our route was parallel to the Syrian border and at times we were less than 10 miles away from it. The Syrian town of Kobane, currently being attacked by ISIS, was just south of the border.

Cynthia (the yoga teacher): I received an email from you David in July saying you just turned 77, but feel like 65 because of the work we've done together. Why is that?

Frances A. Cummins, formerly Frances Macrae, 80, died peacefully on July 16, 2014. Frances and Jack Macrae lived in Snedens from 1957 to 1974 with their four children John, Liza, Phebe and Annabel. The couple had incredible style and relished the magic of Snedens and the Palisades community of the time.

Not even the postman saw Thomas Berger, the reclusive author of the novel Little Big Man and long time resident of Grand View-on-Hudson. A pulley system enabled him to get his mail from his front porch without having to go down to the street.

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In a 2004 interview for 10964 acclaimed mystery writer and longtime Palisades resident Dorothy Davis said, "You are guaranteed to write in a bizarre fashion for mysteries. Something violent has to happen, something that is showy.” Indeed, early on in her stories, Davis often killed off victims in grisly fashion.

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Stroll up Ludlow Lane past the old Niederhurst estate, and then follow the winding driveway to what is now the Lamont-Doherty campus of Columbia University, and you will be immersed in a myriad of local flora and fauna. My last walk disturbed a large family of wild turkey. As you go you may sense a landscape writ as palimpsest: the lives and homes of long-dead inhabitants now interwoven with those of current residents. Perhaps this is because the qualities that draw people to our spot on the Hudson remain much the same from century to century - not the least of which is its great natural beauty. One can only presume this is what compelled famed botanist Dr. John Torrey to make his summer residence on the high bluff overlooking the Hudson where the Lamont-Doherty campus now stands.

HAVE A TRANSMISSION PROBLEM?
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The owner of Closter Transmissions has been in business for so long that he doesn’t remember at first when he started but he remembers why he started. “I was tired of seeing people getting robbed,” says Kevin Gacheny, “and the answer to your first question is 1990.” Kevin started working on dirt bikes and motorcycles when he was a kid in his parent’s garage before going onto vocational tech at a very early age.

When Lois lived in Palisades, she was a free-lance writer - with a new idea. Some of us looked to her in our concern about problems around us in Palisades: a small library needing funds and space; an elementary school threatened with closure and the property sold and built upon; a community center needing repair, or the town might take it; a triangle of land opposite the post office which could be sold and built upon.

Lois Cowan, a founding member of 10964, died November 17, 2013 in her home at TLC Farm on Islesboro Island in Maine. Her husband and partner of twenty eight years, James Terry Cowan, and two daughters, Jill McCoy and Elana Kehoe, were at her side. Other children in her large family include a son, Brent McCoy of Reno, Nevada; an adopted daughter, Stacy Smith of Lexington, Kentucky; and three stepsons, Brendon Cowan of Friday Harbor, Washington, Matthew Cowan of Portland, Oregon, and David Cowan of Melbourne, Florida. Her eldest son, Mark Rich McCoy, died in 1992 in an automobile accident, leaving a hole in Lois’s heart that she was never able to fill…although six grandchildren came close.

THE REST OF TIME
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It has already happened more than once that guests and deliverymen can’t find their way to my house. I will then get a call, wherein they will tell me with kind frustration as if somehow I’ve made life much more difficult than it needs to be, “I’m at the House With The Clock. Where are you?” The implication being, of course, that if only I had a house with a clock, like these sensible people, everyone’s lives would be easier.

10964 wishes to congratulate and thank Carol Elevitch on her retirement from the newsletter she helped to found and perpetuate. Her contribution to it and to the community is without measure and we wish her all good things as she begins her next chapter.

Charles Peter Felton, M.D., a Palisades resident, died Thursday, January 16, 2014. Chuck, who was 87, was born to Ruby and Eulalie Felton on May 6, 1926 in New Orleans, LA. He graduated from St. Augustine's Seminary in 1944, received a B.S. degree from Xavier University in 1949, and earned a Doctorate of Medicine at the University of Geneva, Switzerland in 1956. He and Hiroko ("Susie") Felton married in 1958, building a home together in Palisades, where they raised their three sons, Chucky, Koji and Mark.

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Elena Kusa Morris, beloved wife, mother and grandmother, passed away unexpectedly on January 19, 2014. A 38-year resident of Palisades, Elena was active in the community as a member of the Palisades Historical Society and the Parent Teacher Association when her children attended local public elementary schools. Elena was born in Kaunas, Lithuania and immigrated with her family to the United States in 1948, settling in Port Jefferson, New York. She graduated from St. Lawrence University, where she met the love of her life, Mark Morris, whom she married in 1963, moving with him to Germany for the next three years. Upon returning, Elena went to work for the Institute of International Education, administrating the Fulbright Scholarship Program.

IN THE DECEMBER ISSUE of 10964, Kathleen Sykes profiled my husband, Scott Kling, as he prepared for a Parisian adventure. Here’s a little follow up to complete the story. For those who may not recall, a Louvre curator spotted Scott’s sculptures at a gallery in Paris this past fall. A jury then chose two larger pieces from his collection in N.Y. – one bronze, the other stone – to be included in the Societe Nationale des Beaux Arts 2013 at the Carrousel du Louvre in mid-December. He was part of the American delegation, which included ten artists. We learned once we were there just how big the show was – delegations from around the world, representing 500 artists!

JUDITH W. UMLAS is out to change the world. This bright, passionate woman is intent on getting her message out, that a simple act of acknowledgment can make a profound difference. A kind word, an encouragement, a compliment, the recognition of a job well done said to a family member, a fellow worker or even a stranger has the power to motivate, inspire and validate.

Jodie Tassello, Bianca Beldini
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YOU may have noticed some activity over at One Closter Road where Sundala Center for Wellness recently opened its doors. The majestic, historic space has housed everything from a Methodist Church in the 1800s and Tippy O’Neil’s antique shop to, most recently, Weleda. Sundala, a wellness center co-founded by Bianca Beldini and Jodie Tassello, now occupies the upper floor of the building and brings with it an array of holistic and healing services and a very accomplished team.

Caroline Abel Lalire, 85, who lived in Palisades at three different times in her life, died of cancer September 12, 2013, in her family’s house at the Hartwood Club in Forestburgh, N.Y.

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Elizabeth, long time companion to Tom Mazziotti, passed away unexpectedly on Oct. 27th. She was 57. “Liz” was a lighting designer and was the first person ever to have mentioned the words “Snedens Landing” to Tom.

Josephine Cole
Josephine Rippey Cole, 77, died of cancer at her home in Vermont on September 13. She was born on January 10, 1936 in Syracuse, NY, the daughter of Harold Rippey and Mildred (Post) Rippey. Jo, with her mother, two sisters Elaine, and Jan, moved to Palisades when she was in 8th grade; the family lived in the ancestral home of her mother, Mildred Rippey, and grandparents, Andrew and Lida Post. She attended the Grammar School there where Jo was the only girl in her small class of seven.