Doug Arion spent the first 15 years of his career in nuclear survivability as senior scientist in the U.S. underground test program. Recently, at 2023 Stellafane telescope convention in Springfield, Vermont, he won first prizes for Master Class’ telescope design and optics. Doug is responsible for placement of telescopes at every White Mountain hut operated by the Appalachian Mountain Club, letting hikers view the heavens away from urban bright lights. Reaching some 70,000 people, Doug’s Mountains of Stars science outreach program (mountainsofstars.org) aims to create “environmental awareness from a cosmic perspective.” Several Dartmouth undergrads have participated as interns. Active with Dark Sky International, he serves on the American Astronomical Society Committee to Protect Astronomy and Space Environments. On the PBS documentary Defending the Dark, he discussed the dangers of light pollution far beyond our inability to see the stars.

My last column included Tom “T.R.” Ryan’s soccer teammates. He also complimented his Topliff freshman roommate Pete Roby as a “class act and great friend.” Pete adds, “T.R. is the best! I’ve served as lead consultant to the NCAA in its leadership development programs for 15 years and have gotten so much satisfaction from helping future leaders within the NCAA. I recently completed my role as Dartmouth’s advisor to the athletic director, Mike Harrity, who completed his first year. Lastly, and most importantly, I married Dr. Debbie Gries in October 2022. We are having a ball living in Newport, Rhode Island, and watching our two grandchildren grow up. “

Bennett Kashdan thanks Burr Gray and Carol Mondschein for organizing a Zoom reunion of their spring 1977 Blois, France, language study abroad (LSA) group. Bennett even found his LSA French sister for an e-reunion. He visited France a few times during the 10 to 15 years after graduation. On one of those early trips he missed a very good friend’s wedding because he misunderstood the time of departure on the French charter company’s phone recording the night before. He wrote, “Shoulda taken French 10!” A retired interventional radiologist now living in Wakefield, Rhode Island, he added, “Susan and I see neighbors Jean and Lloyd Albert frequently. Knee surgery keeps me skiing in winter and shoulder surgery keeps me sailing the other seasons! Trying also to see the rest of the world while we can!”

Jeff Karan sent Burr a “snapshot since the LSA in Blois: hostel in Amsterdam; scuba diving in the Mediterranean in a very small French wetsuit that made the locals laugh; return to Dartmouth; forget most of my French; go to business school at Tuck; work on Wall Street; do years of penance; get married, have twin daughters and lots of cats; more years of penance; get a degree in philosophy and religion on the West Coast; become an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley; join a crypto company’s founding team (hide my Medicare card); dye my hair and get full body tattoos (aspirational); watch Seinfeld, Thelma and Louise, Harold and Maude reruns; think about the future; avoid fast cars and cliffs…for now.”

—Janie Simms Hamner, 7327 Centenary Ave., Dallas, TX 75225; jshandkids@aol.com