Class Note 1950
Issue
Sep - Oct 2017
Pictures of Tom “Smiley” Ruggles and his Singing Doughboys, all attired in authentic WW I uniforms, graced the front page of The Concord Journal in April, when they marched and sang for the last time in the Concord, Massachusetts, Patriots Day Parade. (With all of them in their 80s, Tom said simply, “It’s time.”) Tom created the group in 1985 to be part of Concord’s celebration of its 350th birthday, and they’ve been at it for the ensuing 32 years, much to the pleasure of all local residents. This year they finished up at the Hunt Gym on Stow Street, sang “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” yelled “Hip, Hip Hooray” and serenaded Tom with “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow.” (Smiley is a man for whom that song could have been written.)
I spoke on the phone recently with Bob Miller, a lifelong resident and community leader of Buffalo, New York. Health problems now keep him in bed much of the time, but his spirit is strong and we had a good long talk. The outstanding playwright A.R. Gurney, who recently passed away, is the brother of Evie, Bob’s lovely wife. A.R.’s many plays, such as Love Letters and The Perfect Party, marvelously satirize the WASP culture familiar to many of us. They sufficiently upset his father, who thought he could identify many of his friends in the plays’ characters, that A.R. postponed producing one of them until his father had passed away. Twinks and I greatly enjoyed all we were able to see.
Cal Sia’s oldest son, Richard, has been an investigative reporter for The Baltimore Sun and the National Journal, and now heads a society of investigative journalists, all of whom must have strong stomachs. After exhaustive research, it was reported today (June 26) that Trump publicly told one or more lies every day for the first 40 days of his presidency and has slowed down only slightly since then. The task of following, fact-checking and reporting a continuous effort to make reality irrelevant, political truth seems non-existent and portraying an independent press as the enemy of the people must be horrific. Were George Orwell with us today, his next book might be titled 2017.
Sorry, that’s all the space the College allows for old classes.
—Alex Hoffman, 49 Maple St., Apt. 113, Manchester Center, VT 05255; (802) 362-2486; twinksalex@comcast.net
I spoke on the phone recently with Bob Miller, a lifelong resident and community leader of Buffalo, New York. Health problems now keep him in bed much of the time, but his spirit is strong and we had a good long talk. The outstanding playwright A.R. Gurney, who recently passed away, is the brother of Evie, Bob’s lovely wife. A.R.’s many plays, such as Love Letters and The Perfect Party, marvelously satirize the WASP culture familiar to many of us. They sufficiently upset his father, who thought he could identify many of his friends in the plays’ characters, that A.R. postponed producing one of them until his father had passed away. Twinks and I greatly enjoyed all we were able to see.
Cal Sia’s oldest son, Richard, has been an investigative reporter for The Baltimore Sun and the National Journal, and now heads a society of investigative journalists, all of whom must have strong stomachs. After exhaustive research, it was reported today (June 26) that Trump publicly told one or more lies every day for the first 40 days of his presidency and has slowed down only slightly since then. The task of following, fact-checking and reporting a continuous effort to make reality irrelevant, political truth seems non-existent and portraying an independent press as the enemy of the people must be horrific. Were George Orwell with us today, his next book might be titled 2017.
Sorry, that’s all the space the College allows for old classes.
—Alex Hoffman, 49 Maple St., Apt. 113, Manchester Center, VT 05255; (802) 362-2486; twinksalex@comcast.net