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Saratoga Sampler
Saratoga's Dr. Stevens is a gold-medal winner
By Mary Ann Cook
MYCOLOGY MEDAL WINNER: Saratogan Dr. David A. Stevens, a professor of medicine at Stanford University, won the Lucille Georg Medal from the International Society for Human and Animal Mycology. The award is given "in recognition of outstanding scientific achievement in medical mycology."
Mycology is the division of botany that studies fungi and the diseases they cause. To recognize how significant the award is, it is awarded by the society only every three years. The award commemorates Dr. Lucille Georg, a clinical microbiologist, one of the founders of modern medical mycology.
Stevens received a medal and $1,500, plus $2,000 in travel support to attend the presentation ceremony, which was in Paris in June. He is president of the California Institute for Medical Research in San Jose. His degrees are from Cornell University and the University of Rochester Medical School.
The author of more than 585 articles, editorials and book chapters, Stevens serves on the editorial board of two journals. He was voted by his peers to Best Doctors in America, Best Doctors and Guide to America's Top Physicians. He was named chairman of the mycology division of the American Society for Microbiology.
Stevens has been a member of Stanford's staff for 35 years. His wife, Julie, also works at Stanford, in the engineering department. Their offspring are Joseph, engineer and lawyer; and Emily, a physician.
CHANNEL SWIMMER: Colleen Vojvodich, a woman of many accomplishments who grew up in Saratoga, died of breast cancer last month. One of her high notes was swimming the English Channel in 2002. Her life seemed to be about succeeding in one field after another. She was an art curator for SJ Museum of Art with a degree from SJSU.
She was also a writer for DMS Magazine and led art tours to Europe. Vojvodich was a curator for Principal Financial Company and traveled the world to seek out likely purchases for its collection. This many-faceted woman was also a beloved member of the South End Rowing Club.
This group helped her train for her marathon swim from Alcatraz, as well as the English Channel swim. A celebration of her life will be held on Sept. 23 at the South End Rowing Club in San Francisco. Details are at her website, www.colleenvojvodich.com.
Vojvodich was active in the Nature Conservatory and led various educational projects in Des Moines, Iowa. Her twin sister, Catherine Klopotic, lives in Saratoga with husband, Jeff. Another sister, Kim Stapleton, lives in San Jose and a third, Lynn Vojvodich, is in San Francisco.
Their parents are Nick and Helen, who now live on the beach at Half Moon Bay. Nick has recently bought swim fins and paddles.
NEW COO FOR COMMUNITY: Myra Besancon is the new chief operating officer at Community Hospital of Los Gatos. Besancon arrived from New Orleans with broad experience in nursing and an experienced COO background, in addition to being well versed in the financial mechanisms of a hospital.
"I'm excited about the move to Los Gatos, delighted to become a part of the hospital and a resident of the town," says Besancon. With her diverse knowledge and supportive style, the new COO will be a tremendous asset to the hospital, says Gary Honts, chief executive officer of LG Community.
LIT WITS: Book clubs abound in Saratoga, and one that's been going strong for years--and with no attrition--is the Lit Wits. It's got one of the best names. The Lits started as a neighborhood group in the Squirrel Hollow area more than a decade ago, and it's managed to maintain its membership through the years.
When these book mavens moved from the area, they didn't go far: they'd relocate to Los Gatos, as Pat Hammett and Rose Feese did. The one exception was Jean Hewer, who moved to Carmel but still shows up faithfully at the monthly meetings.
Jeannie Ottinger, now of Monte Sereno, is the Lit Wit founder. When she moved back here after living in Georgia, she decided a steady book review group was a necessity and set to work. Besides those above, she pulled in Cathy Cochran, Kay Kenyon, Linda Shaw, Sally Suckow, Mary Lou Taylor and Pat Vick.
The group reads fiction mostly and covers the whole gamut--from light-hearted offerings such as Le Divorce to the classics such as Middlemarch. Booker Prize winners are a good bet for the Lits. And yes, though it's a tightknit group and sociable, the main emphasis is definitely the book.
NEW FACES: Five new commissioners have been named to the Saratoga Heritage Preservation Commission. They are Joan Gomersall, Steve Kellond, Peter Marra, Rita McCarty and Norm Koepernik. Koepernik is a returnee to the commission after a brief hiatus.
Continuing on the commission are Bob Louden and Beth Wyman. Koepernik was elected the agency's new chairman, with Wyman serving as vice chairman. The group develops an official inventory of heritage resources and makes recommendation to the city council. To preserve and protect the city's heritage is the group's mission.
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