Months of isolation and pandemic anxiety brought unexpected benefits and discoveries for the class of 1969. We made the most of Zoom technology. In addition to play readings, weekly 12-step meetings, “Casual Conversations” with distinguished speakers, poetry jams, Saturday nights at the movies, and class meetings, we also continue to gather for our monthly class of ’69 virtual social hour. Jim Staros pitches the social hour as our no-formal-agenda opportunity for discussions “often focused on current events, which of course have included aspects of our experiences, hopes, and concerns vis-à-vis the pandemic. Any topic that you would like to bring to the table would be welcome for interesting conversation over coffee, iced tea, beer, a glass of wine, a single-malt scotch, or whatever is appropriate to your time zone and your druthers.” Friendships have been renewed and many new relationships have formed among classmates. Bill Stableford helped us get in touch with John “Greek” Lallis, who has been married 43 years, has nine kids, and six grandchildren. Greek taught high school history for 38 years and was varsity coach for 20 seasons. Greek and colleague Maria Venezio have two books coming out this fall: Lunch with Maria: A Sicilian Odyssey, and Mediterranean Mothers: Masters of Guilt. We remember Greek from Green Key as well as his passionate management of the baseball and basketball teams. Like many of us, he also has some hair-raising stories about his service in Vietnam. Rick Saunders, an academic pediatric eye specialist at University of South Carolina, Charleston, toured Santa Fe, New Mexico, this summer and this fall is visiting Amman, Jordan, to see his son. Rick and Anne will be touring Petra as well as the area of the Red Sea. Not to be outdone, Bruce Alpert and Jeanne celebrated their 33rd anniversary on an Iceland cruise, amid 40-mph winds and 40-degree temperatures. (Bruce wins the bucket list prize, as he has also visited Antarctica.) Henry Allen was quick to correct our error regarding the disappearance of Albert Pief. “Al is alive and well and living in Utah, and he can be contacted through Fred Klein. The first recipients of the Class of 1969 Outstanding Service Award are David Lyon Prentice and Rick Willets. David was memorialized in an earlier column as “the glue that held the class together.” Rick is recognized for decades of service, formally as class secretary, treasurer, vice president, and point man for innumerable Homecomings and reunions. Rick does what’s needed without title or credit, whether managing our storage unit, erecting the class tent, or acting as emcee for trivia nights. As one of several nominators wrote, “He is the go-to guy for anything and everything, a true ombudsman, with a healthy block of granite in both his muscles and his brain.” Check the website and the newsletter, stay in touch, and send Tex news!

—John “Tex” Talmadge, 3519 Brookline Lane, Farmers Branch, TX 75234; (214) 673-9250; johntalmadgemd@gmail.com