Among the publicity surrounding the recent Commencement exercises was a photograph of two graduates who had been in an ROTC program and were freshly commissioned lieutenants. Also pictured were former President Jim Wright and trustee Nate Fick ’99, each having served as a Marine, and Commencement speaker Jake Tapper ’91. If a similar photograph had been taken at Commencement in 1959 it would have shown a far larger group, including about 100 ’59s who were in ROTC or similar programs and commissioned upon graduation, together with many officers and senior enlisted personnel who were professors and instructors of military science. About half of all ’59s eventually served either as officers or enlisted personnel, some between undergraduate studies, others commissioned upon graduation and even more entering service following our days in Hanover. The difference in numbers serving in the military between alumni of our vintage and current students is stark. Most of us would agree that key drivers of that difference were the draft and its abolition. More controversial issues concern the effects of the difference and whether it really matters that Dartmouth men and women are largely absent from the entry-level echelons of today’s military forces.

The artistic works of two ’59s have recently been published. The Absence of Strangers contains poetry of Dick Taylor, known to most of us as an Olympic-caliber Nordic skier and coach, but who has also worked in a number of capacities, including as a teacher and coach at Gould Academy in Maine from 1987 to 2007. One reviewer of Dick’s poetic voice commented on its “wit and music…deep empathy…and familiarity with seasons, botany, climate and a variety of literary devices and classical lore.” Cyndy and John Orcutt sold their architectural practice in 2002 and he began to concentrate on his passion for photography. Enduring Heights, edited by John, features photographs and other materials about the high peaks region of Maine, where the Orcutts have lived for about 30 years. The introduction is written by the U.S. senator from Maine, Angus King ’66, also known to many of us as Bunny Neff’s brother.

—Dick Hoehn, 845 Union St., Marshfield, MA 02050; (781) 834-4113; rhoehn@choate.com