Through the years, whenever discussions of lawyers ensued and lawyer jokes flew, I often commented that some of my best friends are lawyers and Loyers. First, the Loyers. Bill Loyer was among my early friends at Dartmouth and, when Thanksgiving approached, he did not go home since he lived in San Antonio, Texas. Instead he came with me to New York and we had a terrific time in the big city. After graduation, living so far apart, we lost touch as we pursued careers, married, etc. Bill’s wife, Carol, lived in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and he had moved there to join her family in the photography business. Then, 30 years or so ago, we reconnected with annual exchange of cards for Christmas and birthdays, phone calls, visits, etc. On a trip to the West Bill and his wife hooked up with Marsha and me for a tour of the Badlands and Deadwood. During our past 55th reunion Bill and Carol stayed with us in Grantham, New Hampshire. As I said earlier, some of our best friends are Loyers.


I interrupt to bring you good and bad news. The good news: There are no 1956 deaths to report this time. The bad news: I have been misspelling Samson Occom’s name as Samuel. Sharp-eyed Buddy Shattman pointed this out and I thank him for it.


Now, back to the lawyers. Harold Gordon and his wife, Joan, are among our best friends and they are both lawyers. Harold graduated from Yale Law School but his law career was short since he took over his father’s furniture company and grew it into Gordon International. Joan graduated from Harvard Law and had a long and distinguished career in the legal department of the United Nations. I close with a stanza from a poem titled “The Essence of Friendship.”


“Our old friends we really do treasure,


Stupendous folks by any measure;


In groups large and small,


At a house or a ball,


All our friends give us hours of pleasure.”


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