Class Note 1961
Our 55th reunion is now approaching rapidly. If you have not yet signed up for the Hanover reunion during June 13-16 I can promise you that Jim Baum, 55th reunion chair, and his reunion committee have done an outstanding job in developing a fantastic and fun-filled program centered primarily (but not exclusively) around the theme of the Robert Frost statue. We have even convinced the sculptor of the Robert Frost statue at Dartmouth, George W. Lundeen, to attend our reunion and to be the guest of honor at the statue’s rededication ceremony. George is an interesting and entertaining speaker and will provide his insights into the creation of the statue 20 years ago and what has happened subsequently. Reunion signup to date has been excellent; we may even set a College record for a 55th reunion.
Tony Horan and Marcie are still hiking the Sierra Mountain Range, which often includes very difficult weather conditions. In fact, Tony suffered some frostbite on one trek last year. In between he is still practicing urology, presenting posters on urology and lecturing. Tony, a former soccer player at Dartmouth, may be one of our fittest classmates.
Steve Grossberg recently was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Society of Experimental Psychologists. He attributed his interest in the field of psychology to the introductory psychology course at Dartmouth and professors Al Hastorf in psychology and John Kemeny in mathematics. Steve has spent the past 50-plus years trying to understand how our brains give rise to our minds and how technology can emulate biological intelligence via “his many significant contributions to computational neuroscience and experimental psychology,” as so aptly stated by Tom Conger, class newsletter editor and master of understatement. With Steve Grossberg and Mike Gazzaniga, our class has “two of the leading authorities on operations betwixt the ears.”
John Schlachtenhaufen, upon visiting a granddaughter (budding sophomore long-distance track star) at Dartmouth, stated that he “didn’t notice that much change.” That is both good news and bad news—good news in that we always like to remember our college as it was when we attended; bad news in that the school has obviously changed a great deal since we graduated, so that perhaps it is time for John to revisit the optometrist. Gim Burton recently wrote that he considered himself a “seenager” (i.e., senior teenager). He stated that he now has everything that he ever wanted as a teenager, only 60 years later: He doesn’t have to go to school or to work, gets an allowance (pension and Social Security), has his own pad and doesn’t have a curfew, has a driver’s license and his own car, has a valid ID that gets him served in bars, doesn’t worry about acne and the women that he hangs around with are not scared of getting pregnant. It sounds to me like life for Gim is perfect!
In closing, Robert Frost left us this famous quote: “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: “It goes on.” To that quote, I would now add two words: “we hope.”
—Victor S. Rich, 94 Dove Hill Drive, Manhasset, NY 11030; (516 )446-3977; richwind13@gmail.com
