In mid-August Marsha and I traveled to N.Y.C. to attend a 50th wedding anniversary party for Al Friedman and his wife, Diane. The affair was hosted by the Friedman children, Lisa and Neil ’88. The venue was the Three West Club at 51st Street in Manhattan and a great time was had by all. Among the attendees were Tom Kuhns (Al’s longtime partner in ophthalmology practice); Elliott Weinstein and his wife, Alice; and Maury Tannenbaum ’57 and his wife, Gloria. 


I now interrupt to bring you the Barbary Coast Jazz Band playing in honor of William H. Skiff and Walter D. Pugh (affectionately known as “Wally”), both of whom passed away recently. Samson Occom dressed in green buckskins leads the funeral procession and band up Main Street and then three times around the Green. All surviving classmates bow their heads in silent and heartfelt tribute.


Several classmates we hoped to see at the Friedman do were unable to attend. Harold Gordon and his wife, Joan, had unbreakable reservations in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where they often go in August to visit the annual market featuring Native American art. They graciously let us use their second home in Redding, Connecticut, as a place to stay. Also unable to make it were Mike and Marge Grunebaum—she had a serious fall, which kept her housebound, and we hope she is recovered by the time this column goes to press.


Following is the first stanza of a four-stanza poetic limerick titled “A Moving Experience,” created specifically for the Friedman party and read by yours truly.


“Fifty years in a marriage is moving,


With loving experience proving;


Two hearts locked together,


With family a tether,


And friends of long standing approving.”


—Joel D. Ash, P.O. Box 1733, Grantham, NH 03753; (603) 863-3360; joel@poeticlimericks.com