How lucky can you get? Our 55th reunion theme took on more meaning, June 11-14, thanks to the nearly 200 attendees, including Ken and Milli Kvistad of Geneva, Switzerland; Tige and Peggy Harris of Portland, Oregon; and Mike and Jane Emerson of Seattle. Freeman Ford piloted his plane from Chico, California. Terry Russell, Bill Marshall, and Johannes and Lynne von Trapp, whose family-brewed lager enlivened proceedings, arrived from Vermont.

Sports and parties happened at Mount Moosilauke and Lake Morey, Vermont, but in Hanover the focus was on bonding, including a memorial service conducted by Ken Kvistad and Steve Macht with Paul Binder, Marty Bowne, Dave Goodwillie, Larry Bailey, and Sam Cabot.

At the Rocky courtyard Monday night Armand Villager, Steve and Sharon Brenner, and Roger Parkinson talked at table. Nearby John Chamberlin, Doug Bell, and Geoff Murphy recounted undergraduate Glee Club miscues.

At Tuesday’s BBQ Bill “Ollie” Purcell recalled that as young New York DA he convinced a court in 1973 that the porn film Deep Throat was obscene. Appropriately, we adjourned to Loew Auditorium to hear a lecture by Dr. Sam Smith ’58 titled “Intimacy Should be Fun: What Does Age Have to Do with It?” Nothing, said Smith, if you follow three tips: hold hands every chance you get, kiss passionately, and hug in public. And we thought reunions were only for drinking, back-slapping, and swapping of old tales. An informative lecture on global warming by professor Erich Osterberg was followed by dinner on Baker lawn, where Claudia Rose, former account manager at J. Walter Thompson and spouse of Ted Morehouse, former ad man and later Internet bank executive, remembered Madison Avenue’s glory days. We packed Moore Theater in Hopkins to see Paul Binder and Petie Subin (wife of Bill) recreate their New York cabaret, with pianist Steve Kurland performing Gershwin and contributions from John Chamberlin, Steve Macht and Joyce Ratner, whose husband, Tim,directed the ’63’s glee club.

Wednesday featured talks on diabetes by Drs. Gordon and Susan Weir and world politics by professor Jennifer Lind. During our class photo Sturgess Dorrance, a retired broadcasting exec, proudly described the house he and wife Pam built on the Columbia River in Washington State.

Outgoing president Larry Bailey thanked fellow officers, including 55th chair Ed Mazer and 50th chair Tom Jester, and introduced Sam Cabot, our new president, at the class meeting. The evening banquet featured Soaring Pine Awards to Bob Bysshe, Ed Mazer, Marty Bowne, Steve Lewinstein, Tom Perry, Steve Guthrie, Terry Russell, Larry Bailey, Bill Russell, and Harry Zlokower for their service to the class and College. Humorist and UConn professor Gina Barreca ’79 brought down the house with tales of early Dartmouth coed days, followed by dancing and clapping to a hot Motown band.

More news on 55th reunion attendees and other classmates to come in future columns, including Tom Washing’s new book about a company’s quest to conquer an infectious child-killing disease in India. Catch up October 26-28 at the Homecoming (Harvard) mini-reunion in Hanover, and, if a vacancy arises, consider the class Tuscany trip in November.

I regret to report the deaths of Mike Morell and Ted Graves.

—Harry Zlokower, 190 Amity St., Brooklyn, NY 11201; (917) 541-8162; harry@zlokower.com