Helen Kritzler


And so I thought I should start out with those who didn’t feel part of dear ole Wheatley. Someone needs to represent us ‘outsiders’. Does it still annoy me to hear about all the wonderful parties and football games? But 50 years ago. I mean get over it Helen. It is fascinating to read each one’s bio- we’ve all taken such unique and different paths.Susan Borger the intensity and devotion to your path. WOW! And Mary Jane Johnson - stills sounds so lovely!! I’ve always been much more of the follow the flow of the river. The Dao approach to life. Which has lead me to many wondrous experiences and exposure to wisdom. To go back a bit. I remember in 3rd grade being at Northside school. We had moved to Roslyn Hts from a farming area further out in the island . North Bellmore. We were the only Jews in town. During the war there was a German spy group there. My mother felt a great deal of anti-Semitism, so even though my parents were not religious and were left wingers, they felt the need to move to a Jewish community and therefore choose the Roslyn Country Club. My mother was amazingly warm, affectionate, and great story teller-adventurer. She went to Russia in 1935 to study under Pavlov before she married my father. She was in the Lucy Stone Brigade (feminists who refused to change their name when they married). My parents loved to travel. Every year they went around the globe and brought back pictures of the Amazon, Africa etc. no wonder that Eddie ended up in Jamaica and I in Hawaii. Some times at night I still have dreams about the Northside school –I see a cold very large gym.. Then off we went to I.U. Willets. We were all in the same class from 3rd grade to 7th grade – I know that was difficult for some kids- whatever status you had in 3rd grade remained the same for your entire childhood. I was kind of shy then ...so I never became friendly with Jane Order or Mimi Frank even though I really liked them.. We all came back together with Northside again in 8th grade. So though I never felt part of Wheatley, Joan, Chicky and I made our own world. At 16 Chicky and I began to cut school and go down to the village.. Smoke pot and stay up all night. Telling stories to our parents that she was at my house and I was at hers. Until one terrible night when we got caught and did we get in trouble!! My world really opened up hanging out in the village - adventure of adventure... thrilling scary – grownup... beatnik the pre- hippy era... What I did enjoy in Wheatley was Mr. Frizoni’s class where we laughed and giggled...Joan and I had fun in the physics class. Though the teacher, Mr. Zaros, mentioned how lousy it was that we spoiled the class –he said couldn’t make ‘dirty jokes’ with us girls being there’. Girls didn’t take physics in those days. I admired Mr. Porcino for his clothes...; hated Ms Bodner (she didn’t like me cause of brother Ed) ; looked down on Mr Herbst. (I once heard him ask Ms Bodner out after school one day. She quickly told him no.).. and had a crush on the Art teacher. When I think about Wheatley for some reason Janet Maneke and Barbara Singdalsin come to mind- oh and dear Linda Haar- and now as I look those seem to be the people that have disappeared. And Michael Kaye too somehow I’m really curious about him.. And Judy Weiss... and well Mel Miller and I used to flirt furiously on the telephone- he behaved very differently with me than he did at school. After high school, I went to the University of Wisconsin (along with Bucky and Peter Wolf). It became the hubbub of radical activity. We had an amazing history dept- Harvey Goldberg, William Appleton Williams and Mosey...civil rights, the war in Vietnam. Kennedy’s assassination. My boyfriend was South African . He was deported from the US for his radical activity and I joined him in London to plot the overthrown of the South African government in a small radical group. (Luckily they didn’t need me to accomplish that fact). We broke up and I returned very confused to New York. Till I ran into the then beginnings of the women’s liberation movement. It became my life. I loved it. Felt such freedom and soul growth. I gave speeches all around. Personal ego wasn’t involved in the early meetings -We were searching for the ‘truth’ That was all that was important. I moved out to California to organize out there. But I came to see that women could be just as oppressive as men though in a different way. And my world collapsed. Lost and depressed I went off to Mexico to study art and find a new way... I returned to New York in ’75 still a bit depressed. Then I found spirituality – A Indian Guru Swami Muktananda was up in the Catskills. He used to touch people to awaken their kundalani. Well I got ‘the touch’ and was truly sent into a different plane of existence- It was like “Alice in Wonderland” really exists. No foolin’! So off I went to India and actually ended up in Dharmesla with the Dalia lama. Buddhism has been my path since then. I returned to New York in ’78 – got involved in programming computers through my niece. I ended up designing games for Atari. I was surrounded by geniuses. One guy had invented a remote for a TV at 7 years old. I loved programming at Atari. Using math skill I hadn’t used since Mr. Porcino’s class and seeing the algorithms move images on the computer screen. Those days we used machine language and actually turned the pixels on and off to create animations. 1984 when Atari collapsed I went to Nicaragua to help the Revolution - Training computer skills and setting up databases for the New Free school system that was being setup. In the midst of the Revolution I fell in love and married Gerardo Espinoza in a tiny church with guitars & horses. My first marriage at 43. Later we adopted my son Samuel David Espinoza in 1990. So I now have a 19 year old and hang out with teenagers. Gerardo and I broke up in 1999 and I moved to Maui, Hawaii. Here I have an Email business announcing all the Events on the island. I also read palms (which I learned form my mother) to the tourists and locals.. I am very curious about the potentiality of the brain and psychic phenomenon. I am starting a new project with a writer friend - book and video about Maui and the strange and wonderful people that live here. That’s about as quick as I can do this Wheatley grad’s bio. Sorry I wont be at the reunion - but it has been really interesting thinking that its been 50 years- Almost like a science fiction movie- 50 years later.. and all we've been up to....

And so I thought I should start out with those who didn’t feel part of dear ole Wheatley.

Someone needs to represent us ‘outsiders’. Does it still annoy me to hear about all the wonderful parties and football games?
But 50 years ago. I mean get over it Helen.

It is fascinating to read each one’s bio- we’ve all taken such unique and different paths.Susan Borger the intensity and devotion to your path. WOW! And Mary Jane Johnson - stills sounds so lovely!! I’ve always been much more of the follow the flow of the river. The Dao approach to life. Which has lead me to many wondrous experiences and exposure to wisdom.

To go back a bit. I remember in 3rd grade being at Northside school. We had moved to Roslyn Hts from a farming area further out in the island . North Bellmore. We were the only Jews in town. During the war there was a German spy group there. My mother felt a great deal of anti-Semitism, so even though my parents were not religious and were left wingers, they felt the need to move to a Jewish community and therefore choose the Roslyn Country Club.

My mother was amazingly warm, affectionate, and great story teller-adventurer. She went to Russia in 1935 to study under Pavlov before she married my father. She was in the Lucy Stone Brigade (feminists who refused to change their name when they married). My parents loved to travel. Every year they went around the globe and brought back pictures of the Amazon, Africa etc. no wonder that Eddie ended up in Jamaica and I in Hawaii.

Some times at night I still have dreams about the Northside school –I see a cold very large gym.. Then off we went to I.U. Willets. We were all in the same class from 3rd grade to 7th grade – I know that was difficult for some kids- whatever status you had in 3rd grade remained the same for your entire childhood. I was kind of shy then ...so I never became friendly with Jane Order or Mimi Frank even though I really liked them.. We all came back together with Northside again in 8th grade.

So though I never felt part of Wheatley, Joan, Chicky and I made our own world. At 16 Chicky and I began to cut school and go down to the village.. Smoke pot and stay up all night. Telling stories to our parents that she was at my house and I was at hers. Until one terrible night when we got caught and did we get in trouble!! My world really opened up hanging out in the village - adventure of adventure... thrilling scary – grownup... beatnik the pre- hippy era...

What I did enjoy in Wheatley was Mr. Frizoni’s class where we laughed and giggled...Joan and I had fun in the physics class. Though the teacher, Mr. Zaros, mentioned how lousy it was that we spoiled the class –he said couldn’t make ‘dirty jokes’ with us girls being there’. Girls didn’t take physics in those days. I admired Mr. Porcino for his clothes...; hated Ms Bodner (she didn’t like me cause of brother Ed) ; looked down on Mr Herbst. (I once heard him ask Ms Bodner out after school one day. She quickly told him no.).. and had a crush on the Art teacher.

When I think about Wheatley for some reason Janet Maneke and Barbara Singdalsin come to mind- oh and dear Linda Haar- and now as I look those seem to be the people that have disappeared. And Michael Kaye too somehow I’m really curious about him.. And Judy Weiss... and well Mel Miller and I used to flirt furiously on the telephone- he behaved very differently with me than he did at school.

After high school, I went to the University of Wisconsin (along with Bucky and Peter Wolf). It became the hubbub of radical activity. We had an amazing history dept- Harvey Goldberg, William Appleton Williams and Mosey...civil rights, the war in Vietnam. Kennedy’s assassination. My boyfriend was South African . He was deported from the US for his radical activity and I joined him in London to plot the overthrown of the South African government in a small radical group. (Luckily they didn’t need me to accomplish that fact). We broke up and I returned very confused to New York. Till I ran into the then beginnings of the women’s liberation movement. It became my life. I loved it. Felt such freedom and soul growth. I gave speeches all around. Personal ego wasn’t involved in the early meetings -We were searching for the ‘truth’ That was all that was important.

I moved out to California to organize out there. But I came to see that women could be just as oppressive as men though in a different way. And my world collapsed. Lost and depressed I went off to Mexico to study art and find a new way...

I returned to New York in ’75 still a bit depressed. Then I found spirituality – A Indian Guru Swami Muktananda was up in the Catskills. He used to touch people to awaken their kundalani. Well I got ‘the touch’ and was truly sent into a different plane of existence- It was like “Alice in Wonderland” really exists. No foolin’! So off I went to India and actually ended up in Dharmesla with the Dalia lama. Buddhism has been my path since then.

I returned to New York in ’78 – got involved in programming computers through my niece. I ended up designing games for Atari. I was surrounded by geniuses. One guy had invented a remote for a TV at 7 years old. I loved programming at Atari. Using math skill I hadn’t used since Mr. Porcino’s class and seeing the algorithms move images on the computer screen. Those days we used machine language and actually turned the pixels on and off to create animations.

1984 when Atari collapsed I went to Nicaragua to help the Revolution - Training computer skills and setting up databases for the New Free school system that was being setup. In the midst of the Revolution I fell in love and married Gerardo Espinoza in a tiny church with guitars & horses. My first marriage at 43. Later we adopted my son Samuel David Espinoza in 1990. So I now have a 19 year old and hang out with teenagers.

Gerardo and I broke up in 1999 and I moved to Maui, Hawaii. Here I have an Email business announcing all the Events on the island. I also read palms (which I learned form my mother) to the tourists and locals.. I am very curious about the potentiality of the brain and psychic phenomenon. I am starting a new project with a writer friend - book and video about Maui and the strange and wonderful people that live here.

That’s about as quick as I can do this Wheatley grad’s bio. Sorry I wont be at the reunion - but it has been really interesting thinking that its been 50 years-
Almost like a science fiction movie- 50 years later.. and all we've been up to....