Class Note 1980
Issue
March-April 2021
You should know by now that our class has new co-presidents, Joe Mannes and Cathy McGrath. Joe is the president of Samco Capital Markets in Dallas, where he has worked in a variety of capacities since 2001. After Dartmouth Joe earned an M.B.A. from Wharton. Joe also judges chili contests.
Living in Fairlee, Vermont (population 980), Cathy is a senior consultant at Marts & Lundy Inc. Cathy advises nonprofits about fundraising programs. And you thought your job in a pandemic was tough. “No, really, Zoom galas are fun.”
I hesitate to write about holdover presidents, but Susan Fagerstrom and Mark Alperin will continue to provide their expert assistance, at least through our 40th reunion. Or, as they say in Bulgaria, “When the pig in yellow slippers climbs the pear tree.”
Our new treasurer is Brian Boyer. Brian has worked at Wespath Institutional Investments (WII) since 2003 and currently serves as director of private markets. Like Joe, Brian also has an M.B.A. from Wharton. WII is a not-for-profit subsidiary of Wespath Benefits and Investments, a general agency of the United Methodist Church. In operation since 1908, Wespath manages the largest reporting faith-based pension fund in the world. Who knew the Methodists had so much money?
Our new secretaries are Rob Dinsmoor and Meg Coughlin LePage. Rob lives on the North Shore of Massachusetts, where he writes about health and medical issues. He also writes fictive memoirs, pieces in which he disguises real characters he has encountered. If you are not in one of Rob’s books, you do not know whether to be relieved or insulted. Rob’s life changed dramatically when he started practicing yoga, and even more when he started teaching yoga. Whenever I tried yoga, pre-pandemic, the instructors always gave me concerned looks that loudly telegraphed, “Please, old man, do not die in my class.”
Meg is an attorney, a partner at Pierce Atwood in Portland, Maine. She is the mother of four, including twins. Just writing that makes me tired. Meg lives with her husband, Mike, in Cumberland and is a dedicated runner. Meg is a very nice person, especially for a lawyer.
We have lost another classmate, Joni von Herrmann, who died in October. Carol Burns, Joni’s freshman year roommate, remembers her as “a force of nature, beautiful, self-confident.” Carol further recalls, “We had many fine adventures (including early morning breakfasts with Brent Bilger at Thayer, which we referred to as ‘Brekkie with Brent’). Joni was kind and fun and passionate about Dartmouth.”
Jerry Jeff Walker also died in October. He performed in Spaulding in 1977 and in the Bema at our 25th reunion. Walker made a number of definitive Texas outlaw recordings, notably “Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother.” As for the Spaulding performance, I was there, a terrifying experience because I was far too sober for the drunken mob of an audience.
Mr. Bojangles. Mr. Bojangles. Dance.
—Wade Herring,P.O. Box 9848, Savannah, GA 31412, (912) 944-1639; wherring@huntermaclean.com; Meg Coughlin LePage, 8 Brookside Drive, Cumberland, ME 04021; (207) 791-1382; mlepage@pierceatwood.com; Rob Dinsmoor, 14 Rust St., South Hamilton, MA 01982; (978) 269-4069; dinsmo@earthlink.net
Living in Fairlee, Vermont (population 980), Cathy is a senior consultant at Marts & Lundy Inc. Cathy advises nonprofits about fundraising programs. And you thought your job in a pandemic was tough. “No, really, Zoom galas are fun.”
I hesitate to write about holdover presidents, but Susan Fagerstrom and Mark Alperin will continue to provide their expert assistance, at least through our 40th reunion. Or, as they say in Bulgaria, “When the pig in yellow slippers climbs the pear tree.”
Our new treasurer is Brian Boyer. Brian has worked at Wespath Institutional Investments (WII) since 2003 and currently serves as director of private markets. Like Joe, Brian also has an M.B.A. from Wharton. WII is a not-for-profit subsidiary of Wespath Benefits and Investments, a general agency of the United Methodist Church. In operation since 1908, Wespath manages the largest reporting faith-based pension fund in the world. Who knew the Methodists had so much money?
Our new secretaries are Rob Dinsmoor and Meg Coughlin LePage. Rob lives on the North Shore of Massachusetts, where he writes about health and medical issues. He also writes fictive memoirs, pieces in which he disguises real characters he has encountered. If you are not in one of Rob’s books, you do not know whether to be relieved or insulted. Rob’s life changed dramatically when he started practicing yoga, and even more when he started teaching yoga. Whenever I tried yoga, pre-pandemic, the instructors always gave me concerned looks that loudly telegraphed, “Please, old man, do not die in my class.”
Meg is an attorney, a partner at Pierce Atwood in Portland, Maine. She is the mother of four, including twins. Just writing that makes me tired. Meg lives with her husband, Mike, in Cumberland and is a dedicated runner. Meg is a very nice person, especially for a lawyer.
We have lost another classmate, Joni von Herrmann, who died in October. Carol Burns, Joni’s freshman year roommate, remembers her as “a force of nature, beautiful, self-confident.” Carol further recalls, “We had many fine adventures (including early morning breakfasts with Brent Bilger at Thayer, which we referred to as ‘Brekkie with Brent’). Joni was kind and fun and passionate about Dartmouth.”
Jerry Jeff Walker also died in October. He performed in Spaulding in 1977 and in the Bema at our 25th reunion. Walker made a number of definitive Texas outlaw recordings, notably “Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother.” As for the Spaulding performance, I was there, a terrifying experience because I was far too sober for the drunken mob of an audience.
Mr. Bojangles. Mr. Bojangles. Dance.
—Wade Herring,P.O. Box 9848, Savannah, GA 31412, (912) 944-1639; wherring@huntermaclean.com; Meg Coughlin LePage, 8 Brookside Drive, Cumberland, ME 04021; (207) 791-1382; mlepage@pierceatwood.com; Rob Dinsmoor, 14 Rust St., South Hamilton, MA 01982; (978) 269-4069; dinsmo@earthlink.net