Notes from the Class of 1979

A new book by John B. Lane (Jour), The Beatin’ Path: A Lyrical Guide to Lucid Evolution, won an Independent Publisher IPPY Award in April. He recently read selections from the book, along with a new piece, at a book signing at Tattered Cover book store in Denver. John is also an award-winning instructional designer and a pioneer in online learning. 

Thomas Walek (Jour) is a senior consultant of strategic public relations at Meyer Capital, a marketing agency in New York. He began his career as a financial journalist covering global development at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Thomas is a member of the National Press Club and is on the information advisory board for CMCI. The Pennsylvania native grew up in Connecticut and now lives in New York with his wife, Nobuko, and son, Andrew.

Vicky Collins (Comm) is president of the Denver-based television production company Teletrends. She is an Emmy-winning freelance producer for NBC Network News and works primarily as a field producer and booker for NBC Nightly News, Today, MSNBC and Dateline NBC. She also produces long-form stories and image-oriented videos for nonprofit organizations. Vicky is the proud mother of two boys: a University of Kansas graduate and a junior at CU Boulder’s Leeds School of Business.

Cindy (Cossid) Stern (Jour'79) recently celebrated 10 years with the Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema, where she serves as executive director. She spent the previous three decades at advertising and marketing agencies in Los Angeles and Chicago, including Frankel & Co./Arc Worldwide, J. Walter Thompson, Euro RSCG and Leo Burnett. During her career, she helped pair Starbucks and United Airlines and develop the USPS ReadyPost boxes. She lives in Lincolnshire, Illinois.

G. Brown (Advert) launched his book series On Record. Each of the three volumes includes images, interviews and insights in music for the years 1978, 1984 and 1991. The series is published by Colorado Music Experience, a nonprofit focusing on Colorado music history, of which Brown is the director.

Michael Getto (Jour) lived and worked in 15 countries––primarily in the former Soviet Union––for over 16 years while working for the United States Agency for International Development, the World Bank, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Global Affairs Canada and UK Aid Direct. He now lives in California, where he works for the International Foundation for Electoral Systems’ Ukraine election support program. In his current role, he writes and edits IFES communications for the international diplomatic, donor and civil society communities.

Martin Streim (Comm’76; MComm) retired in 2017 after a 35-year career in corporate human resources where he focused on organizational and leadership development. Before retiring, he spent several years as the director of ethics and business conduct in his employer’s office of legal counsel. He and his wife, Christie, live in Boulder.

Ray Ring (Jour) retired from a 35-year career in journalism to focus on writing novels. He previously wrote Arizona Kiss, a noir piece about a journalist exposing a corrupt judge. His upcoming, self published novel Montana Reckoning will explore racism in one of the least diverse states.