Carmen Castro '05 gets unexpected hello from new Frog friend

“Randomness!” wrote Carmen Castro ’05. “What a small world!”
Castro was referring to the letter above, which she found on her windshield last summer in Washington, D.C.

“While doing my graduate work at American University, I found this note from a fellow Horned Frog in the most unexpected of places: my car windshield! It was a pleasant surprise considering I was dealing with a big move to NY.

“The note was from Judy Eierdam '89, now living in Greenwich, CT, who just happened to be visiting a friend in the Alexandria, VA. area! She recognized the TCU logo on the back of my car.



“It made my day and proved to my fellow graduate program colleagues at American University just how close my alum network is at TCU.”

Castro has been back in Fort Worth since late September and is working for Catholic Charities of Fort Worth and serving as a freelancer for the community weekly publication The Informador. She hopes to find work in the broadcast editorial field.

Keeping the tradition going

TCU alumni Dan Michalek '86, Tom Fireoved '85 and Ross Landmen '87 reconnected on Oct. 16, when the three were there for the BYU game, which was during Parent's Weekend.

Two are now purple parents as well: Dan has a freshman, Conner '14; Ross's daughter Madelyn '13 is a sophomore.

Yard painted with giant TCU in Bay Area

Michael Magbuhat of Fremont, Calif., surprised his daughter Nicolette who is a freshman at TCU with this design in his yard. A house painter by trade, Magbuhat laid out the letters to scale in his front yard. Then, he mowed the grass in two different heights - one very low for the TCU letters and a taller length for the white surrounding the letters. Then using environmentally friendly paint, he sprayed the letters and the white border.

Magbuhat writes: "I was at Family Weekend and have followed TCU football for sometime and got all excited when the baseball team went to the College World Series. The experience at a TCU home football game was exhilarating. I thought this would be a surprise for my daughter when she visited home. I was ecstatic the way it came out. GO FROGS!!!!!!!!!"

One day old and wearing Frog gear

On November 5, 2010, Brian '99 and Michelle Bonjour '01 of Phoenix, Ariz., welcomed a new Horned Frog into their family - Camden, who was born at 2:45 p.m. The next day, little Camden was wearing TCU clothing to cheer the Frogs on to victory in the TCU-Utah football game with siblings Kendal and Beckett and grandparents Karen and Tom Bonjour '72.

Brian writes that "Mommy, baby and family are doing great. GO FROGS!!!"

Horned Frog Halloween for son of Katy '03 and James Winter '02

Beckham Winter, age 2 1/2, was right at home in his custom Halloween costume when he and his parents, Katy Reichenstein Winter '03 and James Winter '02, were on campus for homecoming festivities.

The Winters live in Lubbock, where James is in medical sales and Katy enjoys being home with Beckham.

David Alan Hall ’87 and Jo Anna Grant ’88 have laser focus

Author David Alan Hall ’87 writes that wife Jo Anna Grant ’88 is trying to ensure that The Force will be with the Frogs always with her working, custom made, Star Wars light saber with a blazing purple laser blade.

Grant, who earned her PhD from the University of Oklahoma in 1996, was recently promoted to full professor at Cal State San Bernardino. Hall writes of her recent work: “In the face of critics, she developed with a partner an online public speaking course. It has been a huge success. She is sought after for her expertise in teaching it. Recently she was asked to start offering it to students overseas.”

Hall is now working on his ninth book, a novel about a father who comes to better understand himself through a commitment to better understanding his daughter, who suffers from autism.

His most recent book, Raw Talent: Nurturing the Creative Seed, an autobiography, was the No. 1 bestseller in December and January 2010 on the Kindle in the “Artists Memoir” category. In addition, one of his novels is under consideration at Paramount Pictures for adaptation to the big screen.

In his spare time, Hall makes short, personal videos, including one about his days at TCU and his life in general.

http://www.youtube.com/user/carabimero#p/u/1/8MOtSaImqJo

Hall and Grant live in Redlands, Calif., where they just bought their first house. They met at TCU in 1986. “In 2001 I arranged to meet her in the very spot I first saw her in Reed Hall, and surprised her by proposing. We have been married for 7 years,” Hall writes.

Books by David Alan Hall:

The Three-Pound Universe (1993)
Distant Connections (1995)
The Paradise Vendor (1998) (being considered for movie)
Toward Higher Ground (2001)
Perpetual Motion (2007)
The Great Crossing (2008)
Raw Talent (2009)