The Census Bureau classifies Lone Pine, California, as a “frontier” area. Really. The hamlet, with about 2,500 people, sits in the shadow of towering Mount Whitney in Inyo County. At 10,000-plus square miles, Inyo is bigger than the State of New Hampshire with fewer folks than live in the Upper Valley around Dartmouth. Frontier it is. 


So you could say that Chris and Sandy Langley have been modern pioneers. They raised their two sons and taught in Lone Pine for 29 years. They prepped for that experience with a post-college Peace Corps tour teaching English to Baluchi kids in Iran, and followed that up with three years in a two-room school in New Idria Mining Camp in coastal California mountains. On today’s frontier.


Chris taught history using primary sources from UCLA and the Library of Congress, then was a Fulbright fellow in Japan. Since he “retired” 10 years ago he has been executive director of the Beverly and Jim Rogers Museum of Lone Pine Film History, serving as film historian and creating the exhibits that tell the film history of Lone Pine, Death Valley and the Eastern Sierras. Chris is also county film commissioner, no small task since the unique and grand landscape is a mecca for moviemakers, with Iron Man, G.I. Joe and Transformers 2 just a few of the recent features shot in Inyo. Most recently Chris has been working with Quentin Tarantino on his latest film, Django Unchained. Watch for it. 


Sandy and Chris recently finished a cross-country trip. Their two sons are well, as are their three granddaughters. “Life is good,” Chris says, “and retirement is a blast!”


Another classmate always out on the frontiers of technology and public service is Tom Brady. Tom, one of our class’ most successful entrepreneurs, was recently cited in Dartmouth Engineer, the Thayer School of Engineering alumni magazine, for his professional success, community leadership and philanthropy. 


He founded Plastic Technologies Inc. (PTI) in 1985 in Toledo, Ohio, when he was VP and director of technology for Owens-Illinois Inc. PTI was started to develop innovative soft drink packaging for Coca-Cola bottlers, and it did. Today it is recognized as one of the leading technological development companies for the soft drink and plastic industries. Tom still serves as CEO and chairman of PTI, which has nearly 200 employees worldwide with offices and labs in Ohio and Geneva. 


Tom has also been a leader in northwest Ohio. Most recently, he helped manage the merger of the University of Toledo (UT) College of Education with the College of Health Science and Human Service to create a new Judith Herb College of Education, Health Science and Human Service. He sits on the Ohio governor’s third frontier advisory board, and serves on the boards of the Regional Growth Partnership, the Toledo Symphony and UT’s Innovation Enterprise Corp., among many others.


Our sympathy to the friends and families of Charles Reichart and Tom Wargo, who passed away in the second half of 2011.


May 2012 find all ’66ers and their loved ones in good health and fine spirits.


—Larry Geiger, 93 Greenridge Ave., White Plains, NY 10605; (917) 747-1642; lgeiger@aol.com