Class Note 1966
Issue
March-April 2021
It’s two days after Christmas 2020. Covid-19 virus has been disrupting our lives for 10 months and, in many ways, the virus is worse than ever.
Thankfully, there are glimmers of hope—the vaccines are here (and we are old enough to be in an early cohort); Trump has less than one month more to pardon his lawbreaking allies and veto necessary bipartisan legislation, and the Outlander series has returned to Netflix, with Ozark not far behind.
Many classmates are using this virus-caused life interlude as a time for personal growth. Bill Ferris has been teaching at Western New England University in Springfield, Massachusetts, since 1980, most recently as a professor emeritus specializing in organizational management. For the last 18 months based in Fort Myers, Florida, Bill has become a passionate online bridge player. He went from zero points to “Life Master” in two years and national tournaments are on the horizon. Wife Cheryl has taken up golf. These activities, plus keeping in remote touch with daughters Cheryl and Laura and the four grandkids, prompt Bill to conclude, “In short, we’ve never been busier!”
After practicing utility law for nearly 50 years, Jeff Futter retired at the end of 2019 and started reading more and getting back in shape. And Jeff has become the key organizer of his high school 60th reunion coming up in 2022. Many of us might, in fact, have that event on our own long-range calendars. Contact Jeff for pointers. Covid or not, some classmates just can’t stop helping others. Ed Dailey, longtime litigator at Sunstein, a Boston intellectual property law firm, has been spending much of his time during the past few years teaching and mentoring boys in an inner-city Jesuit middle school. He’s guided three to Dartmouth. Ed also continues to race his sailboat at a competitive level.
After Dartmouth the Rev. Jack Donovan served as a Peace Corps teacher in Micronesia, a USAID refugee officer in Vietnam, a staff member of Boston’s Community Action Agency, and a consultant on federal social programs. Then, in the mid-1980s, Jack switched gears but not goals and entered the ministry. “I thought I had retired from ministry (Unitarian, Presbyterian, and hospice) and anti-poverty work seven years ago in favor of grandparenting duties in St. Petersburg [Florida],” Jack says, “but I’ve ended up serving a congregation (Unitarian Universalist Church of St. Petersburg). Not a career path I ever envisioned back in Hanover, but an endless growing experience. And I’m still happily grandparenting and encouraging Alisun, my artist-minister wife.” I thought we might all benefit from Jack’s late December message to his congregation: “At this season of International Migrants Day and winter solstice, my wish for you and our world is that trustworthiness will grow, tribalism will diminish, and contribution of each one’s best will be encouraged universally.” Amen.
Don’t miss Allan Ryan’s fascinating article on Amos Akerman, class of 1842, up front in this issue of DAM.
Our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Scott Cheyne, a Vietnam Navy vet and acclaimed advertising executive who passed away in November. More at dartmouthalumnimagazine.com/obits.
Right now 55th reunion plans are up in the air, but we are continuing to support the Class of 1966 Dean Thaddeus Seymour Endowment for the Dickey Center. Get in on the action. Visit dartmouth.66.org. Be well and stay safe.
—Larry Geiger, 93 Greenridge Ave., White Plains, NY 10605; (914) 860-4945; lgeiger@aol.com
Thankfully, there are glimmers of hope—the vaccines are here (and we are old enough to be in an early cohort); Trump has less than one month more to pardon his lawbreaking allies and veto necessary bipartisan legislation, and the Outlander series has returned to Netflix, with Ozark not far behind.
Many classmates are using this virus-caused life interlude as a time for personal growth. Bill Ferris has been teaching at Western New England University in Springfield, Massachusetts, since 1980, most recently as a professor emeritus specializing in organizational management. For the last 18 months based in Fort Myers, Florida, Bill has become a passionate online bridge player. He went from zero points to “Life Master” in two years and national tournaments are on the horizon. Wife Cheryl has taken up golf. These activities, plus keeping in remote touch with daughters Cheryl and Laura and the four grandkids, prompt Bill to conclude, “In short, we’ve never been busier!”
After practicing utility law for nearly 50 years, Jeff Futter retired at the end of 2019 and started reading more and getting back in shape. And Jeff has become the key organizer of his high school 60th reunion coming up in 2022. Many of us might, in fact, have that event on our own long-range calendars. Contact Jeff for pointers. Covid or not, some classmates just can’t stop helping others. Ed Dailey, longtime litigator at Sunstein, a Boston intellectual property law firm, has been spending much of his time during the past few years teaching and mentoring boys in an inner-city Jesuit middle school. He’s guided three to Dartmouth. Ed also continues to race his sailboat at a competitive level.
After Dartmouth the Rev. Jack Donovan served as a Peace Corps teacher in Micronesia, a USAID refugee officer in Vietnam, a staff member of Boston’s Community Action Agency, and a consultant on federal social programs. Then, in the mid-1980s, Jack switched gears but not goals and entered the ministry. “I thought I had retired from ministry (Unitarian, Presbyterian, and hospice) and anti-poverty work seven years ago in favor of grandparenting duties in St. Petersburg [Florida],” Jack says, “but I’ve ended up serving a congregation (Unitarian Universalist Church of St. Petersburg). Not a career path I ever envisioned back in Hanover, but an endless growing experience. And I’m still happily grandparenting and encouraging Alisun, my artist-minister wife.” I thought we might all benefit from Jack’s late December message to his congregation: “At this season of International Migrants Day and winter solstice, my wish for you and our world is that trustworthiness will grow, tribalism will diminish, and contribution of each one’s best will be encouraged universally.” Amen.
Don’t miss Allan Ryan’s fascinating article on Amos Akerman, class of 1842, up front in this issue of DAM.
Our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Scott Cheyne, a Vietnam Navy vet and acclaimed advertising executive who passed away in November. More at dartmouthalumnimagazine.com/obits.
Right now 55th reunion plans are up in the air, but we are continuing to support the Class of 1966 Dean Thaddeus Seymour Endowment for the Dickey Center. Get in on the action. Visit dartmouth.66.org. Be well and stay safe.
—Larry Geiger, 93 Greenridge Ave., White Plains, NY 10605; (914) 860-4945; lgeiger@aol.com