Greetings, fellow ’70s. Take four perfect June days in Hanover. Add close to 90 classmates and another 60 or so spouses and friends. Blend in a variety of interesting programs and symposia. Sprinkle in just the right amount of nostalgia. Serve with cold beer. That was the recipe for a memorable 45th-46th reunion. As Tom Peisch accurately observed, “The years just melted away.” Many people contributed to the success of our gathering and a few deserve special mention. Hicks “Tex” Morgan as chair orchestrated the planning from his home in Dallas and spent the time in Hanover making sure all went as planned. Star Johnson and Denny Brown, our “on the ground” townies, deserve recognition for shouldering a great deal of the logistical burden. Kudos to those three and all the others who helped. Accolades are also due our class agents Dave Graves and Wayne Bardsley who delivered $550,000 to the Dartmouth College Fund. Not too shabby for an “off-year” reunion.

Congratulations also go to Star and his longtime partner Sara Trimmer on their wedding in May. For those of us who have gotten to know Sara over the past several years, we can only ask what took Star so long. Whatever his answer, the class wishes Star and Sara a lifetime of happiness.

Back to reunion. Our class presented three open programs. Arguably the most moving was Jim Nachtwey’s photojournalistic essay, “Rage and Compassion: The Major Conflicts of Our Times.” While I’m sure many of you have seen Jim’s images, viewing them accompanied by his narrative amplifies their impact. Wallace Ford moderated a panel of classmates who have traveled unique career paths, Jim Nachtwey being one of them. Sir Paul Gambaccini’s adventure started in 1964, when he heard the Beatle’s song “I Want To Hold Your Hand” for the first time, and led him to WDCR, London, the BBC and more recently a role as 21st-century civil rights activist. If you want to learn more about Paul’s latest life chapter I urge you to buy his autobiographical work, Love, Paul Gambaccini: My Life Under the Yewtree.

Also on Wallace’s panel was Dr. John Chittick, founder of TeenAIDS Peer Corps. John’s next chapter is a permanent move in early 2017 to a tiny, remote atoll in Micronesia, where he will establish Atoll Academy for the youth of the island and continue his mission through social media. For more information go to teenaids.org. The third offering, orchestrated by Terry Shumaker, was a retrospective on the 1968 New Hampshire presidential primary. Central to that discussion was Dave Masselli, who worked on the Eugene McCarthy (remember “Clean For Gene”?) campaign and ultimately became a McCarthy delegate at the Democratic National Convention. This period represents the heyday of campus political activism and its effects are still felt today.

There are literally hundreds of personal stories that were shared during our four days together in June. Unfortunately, word-count constraints limit my ability to pass them along, but I hope to include a few in the next edition.

—Bill Wilson, 304 Highlands Bluffs Drive, Cary, NC 27518; wilson8689@aol.com