My older daughter created a Facebook account for me, which I still haven’t accessed and am not even sure I want. What I found amazing was what she called one of its great features—the honesty box, or something like that. Have you heard about this? I guess it’s a place where you can anonymously send comments to your “friend.” Huh? Do I want to get a mysterious note from someone saying “See you tonight at 7” or “I’m watching you now”? If someone is my friend, why keep it a secret? This feature only seems to be a recipe for trouble—“Hey, just wanted to let you know I’m having dinner with your wife.”


Thanks to Doug Williamson for his note. His son Peter, now a Dartmouth sophomore, won the Ivy League golf championship individually last spring, helping the Big Green to a third-place team finish. Doug has been a pediatrician in the Upper Valley for the past 12 years, working at Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital in Lebanon and living in Hanover with his wife and 16-year-old daughter. Doug talked about some golf and fishing outings with John Greabe, Jim Leightheiser, Tony Kingsley (still on tour as the drummer for The Police?), Dave Weld and Dave Lenrow. Doug also mentioned a fierce competition among friends for the Dartmouth bowling pin, currently in the hands of Glenn Jordan in Maine, after having been in Rhode Island with Paul DiSilvestro. Not sure what the criteria is for winning this pin, but I’m sure there is a lot of trash talking involved. 


I was excited to receive an e-mail from Major League Baseball, thinking that perhaps my 70 mph lefty fastball had finally impressed some scouts. It was not to be, however, as this note came from Ed Burns, who shared an article from Broadcasting and Cable Magazine about our classmate Mark Stern. Since I’ve often said the only things I love more than baseball are articles about broadcasting, this was nirvana. Mark is now the executive vice president of original content for Syfy and also the co-head of original content for Universal Cable Productions. As a network executive with production experience Mark has had a hand in some of Syfy’s major successes, including the remake of Battlestar Gallactica, the launch of Ghost Hunters and the development of Eureka. Syfy’s president called Mark the “most open and collaborative development head I have ever come across,” which seems like a pretty nice compliment or a ploy to get Mark to do something. When not developing programming Mark enjoys his time with wife Betsy and children Carson and Will.


I must also share some sad news on the death of our classmate Debra Thatcher Gilcrest in June after a bout with cancer. Debra came to Dartmouth from Missoula, Montana, and returned there to earn her J.D. with high honors from the University of Montana Law School. Debra’s legal practice included positions in Vermont, Oregon, Wisconsin, D.C. and most recently Missoula. She married David Gilcrest in August 1986 in a celebration attended by many friends. She was also passionate about music and was an accomplished vocalist and trombonist, involved in the Missoula Community Concert Band and Missoula City Band. Debra was also an avid camper, canoeist and birder. She is survived by her husband, David, son Mackenzie, daughter Abigail and other family members.


Out of words here. Better go check my honesty box to see if anyone sent me a note about how great this column continues to be. Happy fall!


—John MacManus, 118 Ringwood Road, Rosemont, PA 19010; (610) 525-4541; slampong@aol.com; Leslie A. Davis Dahl, 83 Pecksland Road, Greenwich, CT 06831; (203) 552-0070; dahlleslie@yahoo.com