Class Note 1957
Issue
January-February 2022
Classmates responded enthusiastically to the recent column that featured Dick Reilly calling the bluff of a charging grizzly bear in Wyoming. We all have dramatic stories to tell, of course, but stories like Dick’s are different, heroic even. Here are some others.
Ron Judson was with the Boston Red Sox organization after Dartmouth. Ron was a pitcher in its farm system, and during a spring training game against the Red Sox he struck out—ready for this?—Ted Williams, Jackie Jensen, and Jimmy Piersall, in that order, retiring the side. Every boy’s dream!
Larry Blades made a field goal with one second remaining to give Dartmouth an overtime victory in the NCAA playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Art Koff was there. Gary Gilson was broadcasting the game for WDBS.
Bob Creasy was with a group of scientists studying the diving reflex of a 1,500-pound pregnant seal on Ross Island in Antarctica. Bob’s there because he knows how to determine if the seal is pregnant. How? A pelvic-vaginal exam, of course. Just Bob, a 1,500-pound seal, and a full-arm rubber glove.
Heroic stories can also end tragically, of course, such as Jack Breitenbach’s. A DOC mountain climber at Dartmouth, Jack was killed in an attempt to scale Mount Everest. The expedition had reached base camp at 18,000 feet. Attempts to recover his body proved impossible, and Jack remains buried under a mass of ice at the foot of the highest mountain in the world.
Did you know 10 of our classmates have received the prestigious Dartmouth Alumni Award and four others have been awarded Dartmouth honorary degrees? Think of their impact or imagine the benefits of the Warner Traynham health center in Los Angeles, Bob King’s scholarships for students from developing countries, Eric Eichler’s healthcare fund, or Bill Davidow’s vaccines for Covid-19. Consider our Erich Kunzel awards and our “Great Issues” fund or Dick Perkins’ LandVest and John Roberts’ efforts for human rights. Think of the Barry Rotman Society and Tom Macy’screation of a facility for preschoolers.
This is a small sample of ’57s working to make this planet a better place. Heroes all.
—John W. Cusick, 105 Island Plantation Terrace, Vero Beach, FL 32963; (772) 231-1248; johnwcusick@aol.com
Ron Judson was with the Boston Red Sox organization after Dartmouth. Ron was a pitcher in its farm system, and during a spring training game against the Red Sox he struck out—ready for this?—Ted Williams, Jackie Jensen, and Jimmy Piersall, in that order, retiring the side. Every boy’s dream!
Larry Blades made a field goal with one second remaining to give Dartmouth an overtime victory in the NCAA playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Art Koff was there. Gary Gilson was broadcasting the game for WDBS.
Bob Creasy was with a group of scientists studying the diving reflex of a 1,500-pound pregnant seal on Ross Island in Antarctica. Bob’s there because he knows how to determine if the seal is pregnant. How? A pelvic-vaginal exam, of course. Just Bob, a 1,500-pound seal, and a full-arm rubber glove.
Heroic stories can also end tragically, of course, such as Jack Breitenbach’s. A DOC mountain climber at Dartmouth, Jack was killed in an attempt to scale Mount Everest. The expedition had reached base camp at 18,000 feet. Attempts to recover his body proved impossible, and Jack remains buried under a mass of ice at the foot of the highest mountain in the world.
Did you know 10 of our classmates have received the prestigious Dartmouth Alumni Award and four others have been awarded Dartmouth honorary degrees? Think of their impact or imagine the benefits of the Warner Traynham health center in Los Angeles, Bob King’s scholarships for students from developing countries, Eric Eichler’s healthcare fund, or Bill Davidow’s vaccines for Covid-19. Consider our Erich Kunzel awards and our “Great Issues” fund or Dick Perkins’ LandVest and John Roberts’ efforts for human rights. Think of the Barry Rotman Society and Tom Macy’screation of a facility for preschoolers.
This is a small sample of ’57s working to make this planet a better place. Heroes all.
—John W. Cusick, 105 Island Plantation Terrace, Vero Beach, FL 32963; (772) 231-1248; johnwcusick@aol.com