Class Note 1982
Happy spring! I hope that you are enjoying longer days and warmer weather. It is hard to believe that another summer will soon be here. Many of us have recently experienced the death of a parent. I wanted to dedicate this column to our parents, so I asked several classmates whose mother or father died this past year to share some thoughts regarding that parent and Dartmouth. Thanks to all of you who responded!
Beth Johnston Stephenson writes, “When my high school guidance counselor suggested that I consider applying to certain small Midwestern colleges, my dad, Thomas Watts Johnston, gave a metaphorical ‘hmphh’ and promptly took me east for visits to schools he considered more appropriate. He and Mom visited for Parents and Homecoming weekends, remembering the lectures by David Lagomarsino and Don Pease better than I did.”
Scott Simmons shared the following: “I first saw Dartmouth in the summer of 1966, age 5. My big sister, about to enter her senior year in high school, my dad and I were making the college circuit. Although Dartmouth wasn’t coed yet, Hanover was our layover for a night. My one vivid memory of our stopover was standing in the middle of the football field, biggest thing I’d ever seen, holding my dad’s hand, saying, ‘Dad, I want to go to college here.’ ”
Winky Stearns Hussey writes the following about her father, John P. Stearns ’49: “When I was about 14 I told Dad I wanted to go to Dartmouth. He said they had only recently started admitting women and it might be a hard place to attend (especially after going to an all-girls school in New York!). I replied, ‘Well, they have a couple of years to sort that all out.’ ”
Sam Carlson shared the following about his father: “We had some land up in Lyme, New Hampshire, so he was happy for me to go to the Big Green and be part of the great outdoors. He could come up from Boston to chainsaw and work on his little cabin, catching me on weekends for some free labor and cheap beer chilled in the spring. Three years ago, as part of a book project, I asked my father what his golden rule in life was. He sat for three minutes without speaking and then said, ‘Never speak under pressure until you have had time to think.’ ”
Amy Lederer Shapiro writes, “My dad (Richard, class of ’54) was an incredibly proud and grateful alum. I recall two excellent pieces of advice he gave me about Dartmouth. First, he recommended that I talk to other students and get recommendations about which professors were the most engaging and dynamic and take any classes they taught, as opposed to choosing classes based solely on content. Second, he was a huge believer in the value of a liberal arts education.”
I am sad to report the death of our classmate, Ostap Kortschmaryk. Our deepest condolences to his family and friends.
—David Eichman, 9004 Wonderland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046; dme4law@sbcglobal.net; Jenny Chandler Hauge, 3506 Idaho Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20016; jchandlerhauge@gmail.com
