Reunions breed reunions. Jim Dawson wrote, “Naomi and Phil Lippincott and Lucille and I got together for the first time in more than 50 years. The last time we met was at their wedding, when I was Lip’s best man.”


Andy Turner, retired from flying for the U.S. Air Force, continues government ties. He consults in federal government contract management and assists his wife, Ellen, with her travel business. Note to Hanny Mason, who handles mini-reunions as of now: Andy proposes a mini-reunion in northern Virginia that visits the homes of past presidents and various wineries. Suggested title: “Leaders and Liters.”


Mailbox and inbox are empty except for the cobwebs and peanut shells. I can’t convince myself to bother with them. The bad news, as I wind up five years of writing the notes, is how quickly the time has gone. The good news is how many classmates I’ve had contact with, some of whom I’d never known before. 


There has to be a reason for our turning again and again to Dickey on Dartmouth. A few months ago Jim Francis was good enough to send me a talk of Dickey’s titled “The Dartmouth Fabric.” I don’t know the year or the audience. Even so I recognize Dickey’s prose as well as his passion and conviction. As education has become something you can measure with a test, his belief in the liberal arts becomes provocative and even more stirring than before. He saw Dartmouth as the apotheosis of the liberal arts college whose mission involved a double duty: to develop “the full capacity of individual power and the moral will to its decent use.” If anyone wonders why Dartmouth, there it is in a single breath. 


I think it’s fair to say that I learned from e-mailing dozens of you and writing the notes every few months that Dickey was more right than I knew about what he called “the Dartmouth fellowship.” It has been a rich lesson to learn anew. My thanks. 


With the next issue, the new class secretary Bruce Sloane takes over this column.


—Michael Lasser, 164 New Wickham Drive, Penfield, NY 14526; mlasser@rochester.rr.com