If you haven’t seen it already, Jennifer (Taylor) Hendrick put together an amazing slideshow of photos from our 25th reunion. It’s long, but worth the time to watch, even if you weren’t able to make it to Hanover for the reunion. Jen used most, if not all, of the photos that classmates submitted after the reunion. You can find the slideshow on our class website (www.dartmouth88.org), YouTube (search for “Dartmouth Class of 1988”), or the class of ’88 Facebook page. (By the way, if you are on Facebook, but have not yet joined our class of ’88 group, please consider doing so. It is a great place to find out about mini-reunions, and other class activities and news.)


Some of you may already have heard about or even may have seen 50 Shades! The Musical, written, directed and produced by our own Al Samuels. The show is a musical parody, based on the best-selling Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, and has been performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and in Chicago. There is also a touring company currently performing in L.A. at the Kirk Douglas Theater. As of this writing the show is in previews in N.Y.C. and will be opening off-Broadway at the Elektra Theatre beginning on March 12. Andrew Asnes ’87 is executive producer for the show and Brett McDonald is co-producer. John Osborn and his BBDO team created a 15-second television ad for the show. To learn more about the show, please check out its website, 50shadesthemusical.com.


In January I received an update from Brent Frei, the co-founder of not one, but two, companies (Smartsheet.com, an online work management software company, and HarvestWest Investments, an investment fund formed to invest exclusively in farmland) and the father of five kids, aged 6 and under: “All is great on my end. Easy to be happy when five awesome kids act as your personal cheering section every time you enter the house. Oldest is 6 now, and I’d have five more just like ’em if I was sure it wouldn’t put my wife in the asylum.” Brent also told me that Smartsheet is going very well. In fact, Brent told me that a company named Populous used it to “coordinate every nit and nat of the whole Super Bowl. Broadcasters, beer delivery, halftime show—everything.” Brent also said that nearly 40,000 companies use Smartsheet now, and it’s easy enough to use that people also sign up for home use. Finally, according to Brent: “Of course Dartmouth continues to figure prominently in everything I do. Eric Browne, Mark Mader and four other Dartmouth folks work with me at Smartsheet, and Bob Fitzpatrick, Ish McLaughlin and David Geithner have been brave financial backers of one or both of my current companies.”


Finally, I am saddened to report the passing of Amy E. Smith Settle on February 7 at her home in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Amy was an international teacher, who lived, worked and traveled all over the world. The following classmates were able to make it to her memorial service in North Carolina: Dana Beard, Karl Engkvist (who traveled all the way from Hong Kong), Heike Milhench, Deana Moody, Tom McLaughlin, Ellen (Moynihan) Bober, John Replogle, Jimmy Roussel, Michelle (Stowe) Ong and Paula Zagrecki. While a full obituary will follow at a later date, a beautiful movie tribute to Amy, created by John Osborn and his BBDO team using photos contributed by classmates, is posted on our class website and the class of ’88 Facebook page. 


—Jere Mancini, 34 Wearimus Road, HoHoKus, NJ 07423; d88correspondent@gmail.com