Class Note 1984
Issue
November-December 2022
By the time you see this column, dear reader, most of you will have turned the big 6-0 and we will be months away from our 40th reunion. I wasn’t a math major but even I know that the numbers don’t add up. When we meet on June 15-18, 2023, it will only be 39 years since we graduated, but alas, that’s when our grouping gathers with the ’82s and ’83s.
Many wonderful classmates will return for reunion, including Eric Redwine,who recently shared his story with us: “After Dartmouth I went to University of Texas Law School, had a successful legal career, and got married. After 20 years my wife passed away in 2009, which kicked my latent alcoholism into high gear. I got to rehab in 2011 and salvaged my pretty successful legal career for another five years. Then, in 2016, my best friend and sponsor died suddenly and I had a horrific relapse. My career was a shadow of what it had been. It got so bad I even stopped reading the alumni magazine for a while, because I couldn’t stand reading all the success stories.
“Then, just when I was getting things back together, I got hit by Covid and another relapse in November 2020. I spent six months in and out of hospitals and nearly died several times. Not only did that wreck my physical health, but it also greatly aggravated what had been some manageable mental health problems I have struggled with almost my whole life. There is still a lot I can’t do—work, drive, and live alone are probably the three biggest ones.
“But I didn’t write to share a tale of woe, but rather one of hope. Through all this, my faith increased, I found new ways to improvise and do things I never had to do before and make friends with many people I would have never given the time of day before. I have nine beautiful grandchildren and, my special pride and joy, a great-granddaughter now.
“Dartmouth was probably an accelerant (not a cause) of my problem drinking, but almost everything else there was positive for me. I miss it a lot. I didn’t make the 35th, but I hope I can make the 40th. To quote my favorite statesman, the immortal Sir Winston Churchill: ‘Never, ever give up.’ I didn’t. And Dartmouth helped teach me that.”
If you run into Laurie Kretchmar at reunion, make sure that you’ve read her debut how-to book, Tweet This! How to Use Twitter to Amplify Your Brand! Laurie says that if you’re making movies, giving talks, writing books, attending conferences, Twitter’s a good place to be. Fans, classmates, and potential clients are out there and want to know what you’re up to (really). The book is a practical guide for busy people who want to leverage Twitter to amplify their brands, companies, and causes.
Hanover is far away for many, but if Kaya Kazmirci can fly in from Istanbul for reunion, so can you!
—Juliet Aires Giglio, 47 Chestnut St., Sag Harbor, NY 11963; julietgiglio@gmail.com; Eric Grubman, 2 Fox Den Way, Woodbridge, CT 06525; (203) 710-7933; grubman@sbcglobal.net
Many wonderful classmates will return for reunion, including Eric Redwine,who recently shared his story with us: “After Dartmouth I went to University of Texas Law School, had a successful legal career, and got married. After 20 years my wife passed away in 2009, which kicked my latent alcoholism into high gear. I got to rehab in 2011 and salvaged my pretty successful legal career for another five years. Then, in 2016, my best friend and sponsor died suddenly and I had a horrific relapse. My career was a shadow of what it had been. It got so bad I even stopped reading the alumni magazine for a while, because I couldn’t stand reading all the success stories.
“Then, just when I was getting things back together, I got hit by Covid and another relapse in November 2020. I spent six months in and out of hospitals and nearly died several times. Not only did that wreck my physical health, but it also greatly aggravated what had been some manageable mental health problems I have struggled with almost my whole life. There is still a lot I can’t do—work, drive, and live alone are probably the three biggest ones.
“But I didn’t write to share a tale of woe, but rather one of hope. Through all this, my faith increased, I found new ways to improvise and do things I never had to do before and make friends with many people I would have never given the time of day before. I have nine beautiful grandchildren and, my special pride and joy, a great-granddaughter now.
“Dartmouth was probably an accelerant (not a cause) of my problem drinking, but almost everything else there was positive for me. I miss it a lot. I didn’t make the 35th, but I hope I can make the 40th. To quote my favorite statesman, the immortal Sir Winston Churchill: ‘Never, ever give up.’ I didn’t. And Dartmouth helped teach me that.”
If you run into Laurie Kretchmar at reunion, make sure that you’ve read her debut how-to book, Tweet This! How to Use Twitter to Amplify Your Brand! Laurie says that if you’re making movies, giving talks, writing books, attending conferences, Twitter’s a good place to be. Fans, classmates, and potential clients are out there and want to know what you’re up to (really). The book is a practical guide for busy people who want to leverage Twitter to amplify their brands, companies, and causes.
Hanover is far away for many, but if Kaya Kazmirci can fly in from Istanbul for reunion, so can you!
—Juliet Aires Giglio, 47 Chestnut St., Sag Harbor, NY 11963; julietgiglio@gmail.com; Eric Grubman, 2 Fox Den Way, Woodbridge, CT 06525; (203) 710-7933; grubman@sbcglobal.net