Hello everyone,

I now understand the appeal of power. I sent out a missive requesting contributions from Section mates,
and there was a massive response! My feelings of elation at my ability to command have led me to
understand Napoleon, whose experience was similar.

First up, Roger Martin, one of the brainiest of our colleagues, a prototypical Type A:

After 21 years at U of Toronto, 15 as Dean of the Rotman School, I retired in 2019 and now live
in a beach house in Fort Lauderdale with my wife Marie-Louise Skafte – a lawyer and, of late, a
jet pilot in training. I write business books (13 at last count) and advise CEOs on strategy. I write
a weekly column on strategy on the Medium platform (all of the pieces are replicated here on
my website). Fun thing of late is that I did a video for HBR that went up two months ago and
has just passed 1 million views. It is here (clocking in at a painless 9 minutes). Have a second
home on Oahu – try to spend two+ months/year there. In general, attempting to slow down,
but not thus far succeeding.
Notice that Roger has written thirteen books, which reminds me of Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the

Roman Empire- I have a set of seven tomes, each about 500 pages, so Roger and Gibbon are just about
tied in page output. Not bad company to keep.

This recalls a comment made by the Duke of Gloucester (falsely attributed to George III):

it wasn’t George but his denser brother, the Duke of Gloucester, who
complained to Edward Gibbon, ‘Another big, thick, square book, eh? Always
scribble, scribble, scribble, eh, Mr. Gibbon?’ The king, on the contrary, was a
fan.
I am sure Roger would be delighted to receive us at his Fort Lauderdale or Oahu Beach House in the
winter months, particularly if unannounced. I asked him for the addresses to add to this note, but he
clarified they are marked “Classified” and not even the NSA knows it. So, forget about it. Not happening.

Next, Amy Shuen gives me advice- lots of advice:

Dear Luis,

I was really moved by your desperate plea for class note content and especially your guarantee to take
ANYTHING!  Also, having struggled in the role of class secretary (even with double major in Engineering
and English Literature from Yale), I have a few suggestions…

1. Come up with an interesting theme or set of questions:  For example…

a. Have you retired?  Did you move or stay in your house, neighborhood, city?
 b. What’s your current priorities or hobbies?
c. How has the pandemic impacted your life, family, travel for positive or negative?
2. Announce two open zoom or conference call chat sessions for folks to join on Sunday, Sept 18—
one in the morning PT/early afternoon ET and a second in the evening for possible European
classmates. 
3. Record the sessions, use a voice-to-text converter, and edit down for the class newsletter.  Send
by midnight ET.

To start the ball rolling, here’s my answers to those three questions:

a. Have you retired?  Did you move or stay in your house, neighborhood, city?
No, but the pandemic moved my executive program teaching online, making it possible to work and live
remotely.  So, we’ve moved residence from the SF Bay Area to Maui Hawaii where every day is a
vacation, waking up to the sound of waves and sitting on our lanai overlooking a sandy beach that
stretches 6 miles on an eco-preserve. 

b. What’s your current priorities or hobbies?

I enjoy teaching cool new electives like Applied AI in HealthTech, Global FinTech Entrepreneurship or
Competitive High Tech Strategy Simulations for Northwestern.  And my free-style kiteboarding and
kitesurfing in 15 to 35 mph trade-winds most days keeps me on an adrenaline high.  

c. How has the pandemic impacted your life, family, travel for positive or negative?
When our son, a neurologist at Rush in Chicago and our daughter, engagement manager at McKinsey
Digital NY couldn’t come home for the holidays in 2020, we went to our vacation condo in Maui—
planning to stay for a few weeks.  We ended up staying in Maui and only travelling in May 2021 for our
son’s wedding in Evanston, Ill and our daughter’s wedding in Dec 2021 in the SF Bay Area.

Cheers,

Amy

Excellent of course, sound on all the key issues. I recognize quality and I am preparing to hand off to
Amy- the once and future Section Secretary?

Tom Oberst is a rock. He always provides excellent copy for the magazine.

Luis,

The primary focus is supporting ongoing research and scientific discovery targeting our veterans and
their battles with suicide and PTSD.

Secondary these past three months:

  I finished hiking the Presidential Mountain Range in New Hampshire's White Mountains.
Conquered the second highest peak, Mt Adams, on my birthday, June 16.
 I spent two weeks in August in Scotland singing with a church choir.
 I caught 18 striped bass on the Cape with my son, who is finishing his Ph.D. at MIT in Computer
Science.
 Hanging out with my granddaughter
 Getting ready for the next Harvard-Yale Game and the first at Harvard Stadium in 4 years
 Trip to Patagonia in the Fall

Tom sent pictures and here are two:

Bobby McKeeman updates us. No points if you gather he loves his daughter and grandchildren:

 Hope you are well.  Glad to contribute my latest personal news.

 Most of my time is occupied with a new business venture within the technology company
Utility.com that I co-founded.  We were recently issued a new real-time Gunshot Detection
patent that is highly reliable compared to existing loud noise detectors.  Dovetails very well with
our existing police vehicle and body camera video evidence and dispatch management solution.
Initial target market is 2.2M US K-12 classrooms. 
 Biggest personal event for me recently is the birth this month of my third grandchild and newest
granddaughter Camilla Margaret McKeeman.  My son David McKeeman’ s second child joining
son Harrison age 5.  My granddaughter Reese Rutledge picks an SEC game winner on Laura’s SEC
Nation ESPN TV show each week.  As a two-year-old, Reese was 14-3 last season, so a far better
game win picker than Vegas.  Reese now has Bush’s Beans as her official ESPN SEC Nation
sponsor for this season’s game picks.
 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4nypGxQcfuQ 
 A natural ballet dancer like her Mom - always walking on her tiptoes.
 My favorite Laura blooper ….  https://youtu.be/UTNCLKovaG0    References when Laura got
whacked on the sideline at a Georgia football game   https://youtu.be/s_ZIPSADqWA 

Karen Swenson comes through as well:

Remember our intrepid Social Secretary Doug Swenson and our first-year lobster bake
on the beach. Doug and I were married in Denver exactly one week after our graduation
in Boston. Here is our wedding picture:

Sadly, we don’t look like that now but have spent 42 years in Denver and continue to
thrive. Doug ran his own company playing with real estate for 35 years, retiring just
before Covid hit. I consulted for a bit but spent most of my career with a beleaguered
midwestern phone company and was happy to retire just preceding their big acquisition.
We’ve had lots of adventures, travels, cats, no children. Doug demands a lobster feast
at least once per year. We’re thrilled to be alive and together.
Best Wishes to you and all our section mates!

Karen Walter/Swenson

Jeanne Lietdka reminds us of an emotional time for her:

For those of you who remember -  I waddled through my 2nd year at HBS nibbling saltines in a whale-like
state of pregnancy - my daughter Miranda was born in April, just before we graduated. Her son, my
grandson, has just gotten his driver’s license and I feel very old!

Jeanne

So, there you have it. Section B now has an extensive entry, and we are moving up in
the rankings. I suppose Section D will always be Head of the River (Oxbridge-look it
up). Section D has three Class Secretaries, they have been there forever, and D people
are compulsive contributors. Their output exceeds Gibbon’s. And Roger’s.

Best regards to everyone!