Don Hess writes: “This assignment from Stu triggered wonderful memories of my years at The D—the staff, our ’70 directorate, and our full-time employees—and others: the smell of ink and molten lead in the basement of the Allen Street shop, the sound of the teletype, the editorial discussions that I listened to (it was a volatile time if you remember), pounding the pavement in Hanover and the Upper Valley selling ads, and the excitement of putting together a 24-page edition for Carnival. All of these experiences helped prepare me to run our family’s retail apparel business, which we built to 40 stores and more than 6,000 associates before selling 25 years ago. Since then I have served on the boards of public companies and nonprofits and spent a great deal of time with our six children and 15 grandchildren, especially in Vail, Colorado. Ronne and I have traveled extensively and have led four interfaith trips to Israel. And I have worked hard to elect politicians and create the infrastructure that can help our state move forward. In Alabama that is an uphill battle but one that must be fought.”

Dennis Jolicoeur writes that he enjoys riding a tractor as he and his wife develop a small, 43-acre farm. (Secretary’s note: Forty-three acres doesn’t sound very small, but I lived in Manhattan most of my adult life.) He also teaches three classes in finance at the University of South Carolina. His youngest child just started a premed program at UCLA, so the family is truly bicoastal.

George LeMaistre recalls that right after college he worked as a volunteer in a 1970 congressional campaign in Iowa, as a reporter-photographer for a small daily newspaper in the Mississippi Delta, and again in Iowa as a congressional staffer. Following law school he clerked for a federal district judge in Alabama (where he had grown up) and then went to work in 1977 for a Washington, D.C., firm of 45 lawyers, where his practice involved mostly government contracts and federal litigation. Nearly four years later several old friends from Alabama and Washington who had recently opened a firm in Mobile, Alabama, invited him to join them. “I’ve never doubted that my experience at The Dartmouth was invaluable preparation for practicing law. Reporting and editing always must begin with identifying the ascertainable facts, whether by interviewing participants in (or witnesses to) key events or examining relevant documents and public records. The critical task then is communicating those facts to readers.”

Finally, since this DAM issue includes June, there is still time to register for what is shaping up to be a fabulous “Fifty-ish.” As of the end of February 135 classmates reported their intent to attend.

—Stu Zuckerman,P.O. Box 85, Bridgehampton, NY 11932; (917) 559-0063; stuartz@gmail.com