Writing this on August 28, still masked and distanced, with schools preparing to open one way or another in the age of Covid-19, and the apocalyptic prophecies of the political conventions still ringing in our ears. We will all know more (but not quite everything or enough) when you read this in late October.

Thanks to classmates for sharing their pandemic-time news and views.

Judy and Joe Barker left Nashville and spent the summer on the St. George peninsula in Maine. “It’s a lot cooler and with lots less Covid here,” Joe explains, but “we also miss having our children and grandchildren with us in Maine. Our house is way too quiet.”

Joe is a devoted supporter of the Hood Museum and his hometown Tennessee State University. “We fear for our country and hope for the best,” Joe writes. “Between Covid-19 and bad politics all around, our country is suffering. All people matter, all people’s ideas need to be listened to, and all people need to be respected.”

Bill Wilson, widely considered today’s foremost translator of classic Samurai texts, has spent time during Covid-19 taking out the garbage, walking the dogs, and tending the bushes and trees in his backyard. (Sound familiar?) Bill has also stayed professionally busy, finishing a translation of the biography of Taneda Santoka, an eccentric haiku poet and Zen Buddhist priest. Publication date uncertain. “This, if nothing else,” Bill observes, “is a time for personal growth and reflection.”

Before becoming a Naples, Florida, resident last year, Dr. Bruce Berger had a solo dermatology practice in Princeton, New Jersey, for 43 years, handling more than 250,000 patient visits. He and Barb returned to Princeton when the New Jersey virus numbers declined. “These are very crazy and upsetting times for sure,” Bruce says. “We have two grandkids applying to college this year. Neither is interested in Dartmouth. Is it worth $75,000 to go to an Ivy virtually?”

Another ’66 doctor, Bill Ramos, announced this spring that he is officially retired from his gynecology and obstetrics practice in Las Vegas. “I was very near making that decision,” he writes, “but the virus kicked me in the ass and got me to take the leap.” Bill is not optimistic about the future—“I see no light at the end of the tunnel until an effective vaccine is developed. And yet recent polls revealed that more than one-third of Americans are planning to refuse the vaccine. Inconceivable (to quote Princess Bride). Please all, stay healthy, stay careful.”

Marya and Paul Klee had to cut short their photographic adventure in Africa in late February when pandemic alerts increased. After passing through Frankfurt and Boston on March 10, when no health checks were in place, they have been back in hometown Hanover, finding time for leisurely social-distanced walks with friends, including Elizabeth and Jim Lustenader.

The indomitable Pete Barber spent the spring and summer hooked up to a wound vacuum for 12 weeks recovering from two surgeries. Thankfully, he’s back home with Mary now in Santa Rosa, California (pbarber66@gmail.com).

And we’re happy to let John Rollins, co-chair of our 55th reunion next June 14-17 in Hanover, have the last upbeat word. “It’s definitely been a spring and summer of social distancing,” he writes. “Golf has been one of the more enjoyable respites. Looking forward to seeing everyone in Hanover for our 55th—less than a year away!”

—Larry Geiger, 93 Greenridge Ave., White Plains, NY 10605; (914) 860-4945; lgeiger@aol.com