Dialogue - Autumn 2025

Illustration: Luke Lucas

Brain Teasers

A collection of Summer stories featured Nerd Nation puzzle makers and solvers of all stripes.

As possibly the last Luddite in Silicon Valley, I have no use for any tech gizmos and thrive on pens, pencils, and words printed on paper. The New York Times crosswords are intelligent and addictive, and I thank [constructor] Jeff Chen, ’93, MS ’94, and his mentees for their contributions. For more cruciverbalist fun, and to exercise word “puzzle-solving genes,” I recommend the puzzle in Harper’s Magazine, which is modeled on the British version of puns and anagrams. One solver with a mailed-in correct solution is awarded a year’s subscription. In the 43 years I’ve been faithfully submitting, I have won three times. (Written on my Adler manual typewriter.)
Margo Sensenbrenner, ’70
Menlo Park, California

Your distinction between shape and color in solving a jigsaw puzzle (I love them!) made me wonder if any researcher has tested people on their relative puzzle-solving skills. What interesting things we might learn about vision, mental processes, and problem-solving skills.
Carole Jean Howard Tremblay, ’65
Vaudreuil-Dorion, Québec

Sorted Out

We asked what you puzzle through in daily life. Here’s a sampling of your responses.

I am a legal and HR compliance executive, and I enjoy solving people/employment challenges and potential employment 
legal problems for a living.
Canetta Reid, ’90
Katy, Texas

The motivation and mind of our 16-year-old grandson.
Janis Cenedella, ’79, MS ’81
Laguna Niguel, California

I’ve completed the New York Times mini crossword 2,765 days in a row, keeping track of my solve time each day in an ever-growing spreadsheet. My favorite new puzzle is Align from the Boston Globe, where a mini-like grid is full of scrambled letters waiting to be put in the right places.
Ben Thier, MS ’22
New York, New York

I wouldn’t say “puzzle.” I would say I’m a problem-solver, as I help people maximize their mobility and safety while leading and supporting an acute care rehab team to be more effective and efficient.
Marissa Brooks, ’89
Charlotte, North Carolina

True Spirit

In the Summer issue, we profiled  Bonobos co-founder Andy Dunn, MBA ’07, who lives with bipolar disorder, and ran an obituary for Josephine King McNary, ’01, who died of major depressive disorder.

I think a lot of alumni, whether they have a clinical diagnosis or not, will resonate with the idea of how our traits and gifts can 
be tools for success and impact—and burn our mental health or inner circle to the ground. I hope my classmates take “A Ghost Story” to heart. And my heart goes out to the family of Josephine King McNary and is thankful to learn more about CalPsychiatry, the community she founded. Take care of yourselves and each other, Card.
Caitlin Smith Sayegh, ’09
Los Angeles, California

The Brothers Baseball

A Summer story chronicled the sports broadcasting careers of Dave, ’98, MA ’98, and Will Flemming, ’02.

As a Giants fan, I am familiar with Dave, and I knew that his brother, Will, calls games for the Red Sox, but I did not know that they are Stanford alums. Great story.
Shelley Correll, MA ’96, PhD ’01 
Professor of sociology
Menlo Park, California

No Easy Goodbyes

The Summer issue’s Farewells included Dylan Johnson, ’88.

I was saddened to read that Dylan had passed away. He was listed as [having been] in the marching band. Dylan was not “in the marching band.” He was a master of mischief, a leader of laughter, a merry musician. Dylan was drum major of the one, the only, the truly incomparable Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band. Dylan, you bring back good memories, and you will be missed.
Alex Camacho, ’87
Seattle, Washington

Courting Critique

The Spring cover story showcased the ways Stanford is teaching constructive dialogue skills.

It is a worthy effort to build skills for productive disagreement. The requirement to find another who wants to talk about their disagreements seems to limit the program’s potential. I sense a greater problem emerging these days with folks just not caring at all about what others have to say. I continue to send my draft manuscripts to colleagues before publication to get those cherished comments: “Never thought of it that way,” “Not sure I understand what you mean,” and “Do you really want to say that?” I fear a decline of interest in bothering to disagree. But I could be wrong.
David Chambers, PhD ’69
Sonoma, California

A couple of years ago, I started doing alumni interviews for local applicants. One of the most common questions they asked me was what I liked about my time at Stanford. I would share a story that I vividly remember. It was the first day of Orientation, and we were told, “Sometime in the next couple weeks you will be sitting with a Catholic, an atheist, a Christian, and a Jewish student—probably past midnight. Soak up the conversation you have with them, because this is one of the special opportunities at Stanford. You will learn as much from one another as from your professors.” Not three weeks later, I had to chuckle. It was right around midnight, and I was sitting in my dorm with an atheist, a Christian, and a Jewish student (I am Catholic), and I absolutely loved our open, honest conversation about a wide variety of topics. 

That was the beginning of a wonderful four years of feeling so thankful for the opportunity to participate in such a special environment of discourse with such intelligent people eager to share their ideas. I thought it had vanished. I wasn’t sure I could share that story anymore. So, I stopped interviewing. But now I’m thinking I want to start again, thanks to your article.
Kim Nunley, ’95
Reno, Nevada