Ruth Swan, widow of Al Swan ’33, called to tell me that Bob Reich ’68 is doing a book signing in Washington, D.C., where Ruth is living in a retirement home. Al lived in Great Neck, New York, as did I, and he was my attorney for many years. Al accompanied me on trips to foreign countries, where he assisted me in negotiating licensing agreements for foreign companies to use my patents in the infant plastic industries and help arranged fees for setting up their plants and training their workers. (Why it was necessary for me to export these jobs is another story.) Ruth came from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and was a cousin of our own Morty Blum, who also came from Wilkes-Barre and who, upon graduation, ran the family-owned Blum Department Store. 


Norris Nims writes that he will be 99 years old in October, and that he is still mentally alert and physically functional. His wife, Barbara, died in 2001, and his daughter then gave up her work in real estate to move into his home to help him out.


Sadly, I have two deaths to report. Frank “Bill” Adams, our great class treasurer since 1996, died June 13, 2010. He loved Dartmouth and worked hard to make things happen. Bill Mathers, our class president, died on July 27, 2010. I remember the great get-togethers hosted by Myra and Bill at their home in Vermont, a layout dubbed the Mathers’ Kingdom. He retired after a fine legal career.


Makes me nervous to think I am the only active class officer left.


Have a wonderful holiday season.


—Edward Gerson, 2400 Mariposa West 3A, Laguna Woods, CA 92653; (949) 829-8400; ejgerson@webtv.net