It’s always a pleasure to pass along good news in this column and we have some from the University of Chicago’s medicine program. Our classmate Richard A. Larson, an oncologist and professor there, has been named the recipient of the Henry M. Stratton Medal by the American Society of Hematology for his pioneering research work. According to the university’s announcement, the medal is “one of the cancer field’s top honors,” recognizing “investigators who have made well-recognized contributions to hematology research over the past several years.” Richard’s career at UChicago Medicine extends for more than 42 years and he is presently the director of the hematologic malignancies clinical research program. He has dedicated himself to designing “groundbreaking therapeutic trials for patients with leukemia.” It’s hard to imagine a more worthwhile career. Richard has achieved “significant advances in understanding leukemia’s genetic basis and translating these insights into more effective treatments for patients.” According to Michelle LeBeau, director of the UChicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center, “There is almost no standard therapy currently administered for these cancers that has not, in some way, shape, or form, been influenced by Dr. Larson.” The awards ceremony will take place on December 10 in Orlando, Florida. Congratulations, Richard!

My wife, Conni, and I were thrilled to be visited here in the Nashville, Tennessee, area in late October by my college roommate Marc Josephson and his wife, Dr. Lynn Josephson. Marc and Lynn were dating when we roomed together at Beta in our senior year and we have stayed in close touch for all these years. Despite an uncharacteristically rainy weekend, we managed to enjoy ourselves catching up on family news and telling stories on each other. We also found our way to the local Leiper’s Fork Distillery, where we tasted some small-batch Tennessee whisky. Jack Daniels better watch out!

I also heard from Alan Bartenhagen, a 1969 graduate of the University of New Hampshire who had noticed my reference in an earlier column about the raid on Fort Ticonderoga by 20 Dartmouth students in the spring of 1969. Alan wrote a term paper for his senior history course titled “The Role of Ticonderoga During the American Revolution,” and before turning it in, read a UPI article about the Dartmouth attack on the fort. He actually included a postscript in his paper noting that the invaders had completed their occupation of the fort with “a minimum of provisions consisting mainly of three kegs of beer and the rope ladders. When asked why the group of students decided to attack the fort, their leader stated, ‘We just had to do something what with final examinations starting soon, and the fort hadn’t been attacked in a long time.’ ”

Thanks for that memory, Alan. If anyone has information about who was included in that group of 20, please let me know!

Sadly, I must close by reporting the death of two of our classmates: Evan Crane and Tom Kendall. Our condolences go out to their spouses and other family members.

—David Hetzel, 997 State Blvd., Franklin, TN 37064; dghetzel@gmail.com