It’s been a year since our 55th reunion and classmates continue to meet together and renew friendships, most recently at the Martha’s Vineyard mini, September 23-26, and about a week ago at Homecoming, October 11-13. Accounts of these festivities are forthcoming in the class newsletter.


Life afloat has its appeal, but after more than a decade of living aboard boats less than 23 feet long, Bill Fiero and Ellen are ready to come ashore. During that time they have cruised through more than 30,000 miles of America’s waterways, including trips to Alaska up the Inside Passage. But that doesn’t mean they have given up travel, Bill says. “We spent the past summer ‘cruising’ through the Rockies, and will soon celebrate our 27th year of retirement at age 50 and sharing a simple life of houseless global travel.” 


The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine recently honored Charles Cummings, M.D., as a distinguished medical alumnus based on his years of service to Johns Hopkins since 1990. His many positions at Hopkins include director of the department of otolaryngology, head and neck surgery, and chief of staff of the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Currently he is a Distinguished Service Professor at Johns Hopkins and continues to care for patients.


Charles has written more than 138 scientific papers and was the founder and senior editor of the four-volume text, Cummings Otolaryngology: Head and Neck Surgery, now in its fifth edition. He has also been president or chairman of numerous medical organizations, including the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and the American Society of Head and Neck Surgery. His many awards and honors include the Newcomb Award (from the Laryngological Society) and the Yearsley Lecture and Award (from the British Otolaryngology Society).


Twelve of his former residents are currently chairing departments of otolaryngology, head and neck surgery, at leading academic institutions. Thank you, Charlie, for your lifetime of service to the world.


The class is again diminished, this time with news of the deaths of Ron Roth and Larry Parks. 


—Bruce Sloane, 124 Hull School Road, Sperryville, VA 22740; (540) 987-8859; bsloane@wildblue.net