Word of yet another classmate gone too soon. John Hugus of Wausau, Wisconsin, passed away in October after a 17-year battle with multiple myeloma. Chief of surgery at Aspirus Spine and Neurosciences Institute, he was also an avid cross-country skier and canoeist. Classmates and friends recall a warm and gentle soul with a sunny disposition. According to his obituary in the Wausau Daily Herald, he “liked to be known for who he was not what he did (and) when asked about his occupation he would answer ‘janitor’ rather than a spine surgeon.” As Anne Bagamery commented on Facebook, “He and Farls and Eric are yukking it up together now, that’s for sure.” 


Gar Waterman reports that he is working hard on the Feral Seed sculpture for the Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center. “The sculpture will be in bronze and laminated wood,” he writes, “a beautiful but somewhat dangerous form (like much of nature). Very excited to have a piece of my work become part of the fabric of the school. September will be the unveiling date and ceremony.”


Brian Pilcher demonstrated that he still has some of the granite of New Hampshire in his muscles when USA Track and Field named him 2013 Masters Athlete of the Year. Brian, who lives in Kentfield, California, has garnered numerous honors since returning to running in 2007. 


“By strange happenstance,” writes Brooks Clark, “in early November I walked into a job interview with an 11-person search committee at the University of Tennessee in which the first question was, ‘Tell us about your Dartmouth alumni activities.’ ” Brooks got the job, as project manager of alumni communications for the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. 


Congratulations to Bill Petit and his wife, Christine, on the arrival of a baby boy last November, William Petit III. “I will tell him of his two big sisters, Hayley and Michaela,” writes Bill. “I am sure they and their mother, Jennifer, are smiling down upon him.” 


The following gleanings are from Facebook.


Poet, playwright, novelist and journalist Allesandra Gelmi was profiled in the literary journal The Worcester Review. She talked about the many forms of spiritualism she is interested in, as well as her work as a correspondent for the Epoch Times.


Joe Bishop spent Christmas in Tema, Ghana, working on a new power plant there. Joe’s work as an electrical engineer has taken him around the world.


Genet Ide Duke’s daughter Maisie Ide ’16, a member of the Dartmouth women’s alpine team, represented the U.S. at the 26th World University Games in Italy. She successfully competed in the slalom and giant slalom. 


Finally, my documentary The Ghost Army, about a WW II deception unit, had its European premiere in Luxembourg in November 2013 and won a CINE Golden Eagle Award in December. This coming September Marilyn and I will lead a Ghost Army tour of Europe. I am also working on large-format book about the unit due out in early 2015. 


Please send news! Next deadline: February 25. Cheers!


—Rick Beyer, 34 Outlook Drive, Lexington, MA 02421; rick@rickbeyer.net