One of great laments of the class secretary is the dearth of news and limited proactive input from classmates. We also toss around ideas of enlisting guest writers to add a fresh perspective and style to the columns, but have not been too successful with that option. Well, we may have hit the class secretary jackpot (if such a thing exists) with some awesome news this month. Who better to write about than an actual writer and author? In case you missed it, our own Dan Fagin recently won a Pulitzer Prize (yes, a Pulitzer Prize) for his nonfiction work, Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation, “the riveting true story of a small town ravaged by industrial pollution, Toms River melds hard-hitting investigative reporting, a fascinating scientific detective story, and an unforgettable cast of characters into a sweeping narrative.” There are numerous favorable reviews, including being named one of the Best Books of the Year by NPR and Kirkus. In addition to winning literary awards, Dan is an associate professor of journalism and the director of the science, health and environmental reporting program and NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. He spent 15 years as the environmental writer at Newsday, where he was twice a key member of teams that were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. He has also written numerous articles on cancer epidemiology and has articles featured in The New York Times, such as recent one about toxicity issues in Switzerland. While offering congratulations to Dan on this great achievement, I am left with two thoughts. First, wasn’t the ice slide at South Fayer an environmental hazard? Second, if you invite Dan over to your house you better make sure your wine glasses are clean.


I don’t have a clever segue to the next story (maybe Toms River to Tom’s brothers?), but we did receive a quick update and picture from Tom Klupchak showing the four Klupchak brothers at Tom’s graduation in 1985 and then again at 2013 Homecoming. A true Dartmouth family, Michael ’73, Rick ’74, Bill ’77 and Tom ’85 look the same after 28 years—well, maybe a little bit different. Tom is still in the Chicago area, presumably still a huge sports fan.


Perhaps you were aware of the recent Association of Alumni election of a new executive committee. Perhaps you actually voted. Perhaps you already know the results. And perhaps you know that Sue Finegan Vasu was elected president of this executive committee. Congrats to Sue on her election. For you friends of the class column (FOCC, a just-coined acronym), you will recall Sue has been mentioned in the past in this column for her various professional achievements, so we’re glad to have class of 1985 representation within this new committee.


Here’s to a great spring and summer for everyone and remember, it’s never too soon to begin thinking about our 30th reunion next year. I, for one, will be asking Dan Fagin to write a recap of that reunion.


—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