You are hearing from the luckiest person on earth. I am able to live to be 100 years old, and am still living a life that just gets better and better. I don’t question why but just enjoy what I am offered. And the great birthday parties: one by my family, who all gathered here for a get-together, then another by the superlative Dartmouth Club of Orange County. I won’t list the other parties, which went on and on, and being able to enjoy them with the woman I recently married, an adopted Dartmouth alum, really topped it off.


I believe that the main reason that I have so many good friends is that I always try to reach out and not just expect the world to come to me. I do not mean to be pretentious. I am just seeking answers.


Dartmouth had a great deal to do with making me who I am. The Dartmouth I attended had many flaws, as does the present-day Dartmouth, and I feel sure that the school, as it is now, will keep on reinventing itself while retaining the values it has and adjusting to a new world. I am happy that the alumni body, which really shapes the Dartmouth of the future, is trying to step up to the plate, together with the College, and is trying to shape a Dartmouth that appeals to future generations.


I, for one, am still proud to say I am a Dartmouth alum.


To the new generations who, in many cases, have given up on Dartmouth as it is, I say you should work hard on making your influence felt and be a part of making Dartmouth the college you want it to be. There is no magic. It is you who will make it happen. Make it a priority to join the nearest alumni club.


Ed Reich, Irv Sager and yours truly are moving ahead. Come join us! Vox clamantis in deserto!


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