Class Notes

Catch up on classmates, housemates, faculty, and friends.

We Want Your Class Notes

Marking career and personal achievements, special milestones and the birth of future Queen's alumni - Class Notes helps you stay in touch with former classmates, housemates, and faculty.

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  • 1990s

    Paul Shore

    – Sc’90

    Summer 2023

    Paul Shore launched a kids' graphic novel series, Steve and Eve Save the Planet, which is aimed at alleviating childhood climate anxiety. Learn more about the series.

     

  • Michel LaBonte, classnotes

    1980s

    Michel LaBonte

    – Artsci’80

    Summer 2023

    Michel LaBonte was elected as Trustee of Ward 5 (Brockville/Augusta) in the Upper Canada District School Board in the October 2022 provincial elections. He will serve in that role until 2026. Michel lives with his wife, Deborah (nee. Vaughan) LaBonte in Brockville.

  • Author Ross Dumoulin's boo: Bubblegum, Bad Food, Bad Doctors

    1980s

    Ross Dumoulin 

    – LLB’80

    Summer 2023

    Ross Dumoulin’s second book, Bubblegum, Bad Food, Bad Doctors, was published by Austin Macauley Publishers on April 28, 2023. The book is a collection of “almost completely true short stories” spanning six decades. Humour is the main ingredient, spiced up with a spirit of adventure, action, and high-risk behaviour, often bordering on disaster. The stories delve into author Dumoulin’s childhood experiences, firmly entrenched in 1960s mentality and culture, as well as his family life.

  • 1970s

    Kalli Sperdakos

    – Arts’72 Ed’73

    Summer 2023

    Kalli Sperdakos (Kalli Dakos, pen name) has published many books for children and teachers. She received an Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children from the National Council of the Teachers of English for her book, They Only See the Outside, in 2022. Her career in education began at Queen’s and she has written many books with school related topics: If You’re Not Here, Please Raise Your Hand, Our Principal Promised to Kiss a Pig, A Funeral in the Bathroom, The Bug in Teacher’s Coffee, and many others. Most of these books are Children’s Choice Selections with the International Literacy Association and the Children’s Book Council. Her newest book, Happy Birthday, Belly Button, was released in March 2023. Kalli has visited schools all over Canada and the U.S. to share her love of the hilarious, tragic, and poignant stories inside classrooms and to encourage students and teachers to write about them. She encourages alumni to reach out. 

  • Sandy Kusugak with classmates

    1960s

    Sandy Kusugak

    – Arts’68, Ed’69

    Summer 2023

    Five Queen’s grads, seeking respite from this dark Covidian chapter, came together in Victoria, B.C., in April 2022, to catch up on a combined 275 years of individual histories since meeting as floormates on Addy 1 in 1965. In April, we walked for miles in sunshine by the sea and in historic neighbourhoods, while telling our stories and sharing our pictures. Fifty years later, they were still experiencing the same free-flowing conversation, laughter, and happiness in one another’s company. Three of the five grads pictured here (back row): Sandy (Belsey) Kusugak, Diana Caldwell (Arts’68), and Suzanne (McKinley) Wilkinson (Arts’68). 

  • A large wedding party poses in front of a lake.

    2010s

    Emily Ritson and Jack Shannon

    – Sc’17, Sc’17

    Spring 2023

    Emily Ritson and Jack Shannon were married in the village of Killarney, Ont., on Oct. 8, 2022. The weather was cool, but the fall colours were at their peak, and it was a beautiful place to be with friends and family. As many guests were alumni, a photo was taken of the Queen’s contingent, and Emily and Jack’s proud papas (middle, front) Henry Ritson (Sci’85) and John Shannon (Artsci’85) managed to sneak in front of the newlyweds just in time.