Class Note 1981
I continue to delight in the responses we are receiving to our “Big Question” series. I hope you will indulge me as I relate more answers to my personal favorite question: Which Dartmouth classmate influenced you the most (either during our years at Dartmouth or in the years since we graduated)?
For Grace Macomber Bird it was “without a doubt Anne Hallager McGonagle. We met the morning of freshman trips. Her positive attitude, sunny disposition, and calm, competent strength during adversity have been guiding me for more than 40 years.”
Mike Steinharter writes about the special ways Abner Oakes has touched him. “He was a roommate and buddy at Alpha Delta, but we only got to know each other superficially. After Dartmouth we reconnected somehow and I admired his dedication to teaching while others were going for glory and money on Wall Street or elsewhere. He is genuine, and that has stood out. He is honest and forthright, qualities I try hard to emulate. We are now even much closer friends than we were when we were 21 years old.”
The course of Linda Gundal’s life changed through Tim Guiles. “Tim opened up the possibility to move to Germany in 1988. He was working for a company that was associated closely with a German company. The German company happened to be looking for a software engineer and I fit the bill! Thus started my odyssey in Europe!”
Anthony Desir is grateful to Peter Clinton and Marcia McCrae Braden. “They were caring, wonderful hosts when I first came to Hong Kong just for a visit with them. Even after they left Asia, I am still here almost 30 years later.”
Ann Jacobus Kordahl writes: “Of Dartmouth classmates, I was and continue to be most influenced by my freshman roommate, Pamela Mason Wagner, whose great intellect is combined with uncanny emotional intelligence and dazzling creativity, not to mention her courage and efforts toward social justice in the world at large through the powerful medium of film/video.”
In other news, we congratulate Sean Bersell, Annette Gordon-Reed, and Allen Smith on their recent accomplishments.Sean was presented with the Glendale (California) Historical Society’s Zelia Blanton Award for excellence in historic preservation, specifically “making a significant impact in the community through extraordinary involvement and dedication in advancing the cause of historic preservation and uncovering the countless untold stories of Glendale residents and buildings.” Annette, the Charles Warren Professor of American Legal History at Harvard Law School and a professor of history at Harvard University, was elected to the prestigious American Philosophical Society at its spring meeting. And Allen, the president of Brigham and Women’s Physicians Organization, was promoted to assistant professor of medicine (internal medicine) at Harvard Medical School. Kudos to all!
Finally, mark your calendars for June 18-21, 2020, to attend our 40th reunion, when we’ll again cluster with the ’79s and ’80s. Co-chairs Lynne Gaudet and Rick Silverman will be keeping us all updated. In the meantime, please send your news and answers to the “Big Question” series to d.81.news@gmail.com.
—Veronica Wessels, 224 Buena Vista Road, Rockcliffe, ON K1M0V7, Canada; (613) 864-4491; vcwessels@rogers.com; Emil Miskovsky, 520 Seneca St., Suite 312, Utica, NY 13502; (802) 345-9861; emilmiskovsky@gmail.com
