Joann Witt Lapolla

In the four years after graduating from A.B. Davis, I attended Skidmore College, the University of Michigan, Harvard University, and graduated from New York University with a B.A. in History of Art. My first job was in the Promotion Department of Columbia Records (perfect for an art major), followed by an unreal and exciting few years in the Tonight Show working with the musical talent and then as a researcher for NBC News documentaries. I left NBC News only because my husband, Paul Lapolla, and I moved to San Diego, where he became the founding Director if the Psychology Today Book Club. Paul and I had met in New York when he was a senior editor at Random House, at the same time Carol Orange Robinson and Leni Schiff Grossman were working at Random House. After settling in La Jolla, California and relearning to drive after many years in Manhattan, I spent much of my time adjusting to the Southern California way of life (which I am still not sure I have totally done) and enjoying my husband, son, and step-daughter. We moved back to New York for a few years in the mid seventies, but returned once again to the San Diego area. Soon after our return, I started my current twenty-five year career in real estate. For the past five years, I have finally made use of my art education by assisting the creative arts coordinator of the Braille Institute, San Diego, in one of the art classes.

Over the years, I have happily stayed in touch with Carol Orange Robinson and Lois Jacobs Safian. Now I look forward to reuniting with many of my other classmates.