October 1968, our senior year: NASA launched Apollo 7, L.B.J. declared that bombing would continue in Vietnam, controversy arose at the Mexico Olympics, Jackie Kennedy remarried, John Lennon was arrested for cannabis, and Led Zeppelin performed its first concert. The blazing fall colors were glorious. At Homecoming we lost to Holy Cross, but we celebrated anyway. Homecoming has always been special for our class, with a gaggle of classmates returning annually. Many of us who had been away for years planned to return this year, only to be disappointed. The Dalai Lama says, “Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.” We didn’t get our traditional Homecoming in 2020, but thanks to Norm Jacobs and Dona Heller we had an impressive virtual Homecoming via Zoom. Their hard work created our stroke of luck!

The Zoom Homecoming included wine tasting, storytelling, cooking class, and general festivity. This year our class has experienced more dialogue and reconnection than ever before. Arthur Fergenson has pioneered play readings—we recently did Hamlet on Zoom—as well as casual conversations covering topics including baseball, spirituality, healthcare, and death row lawyering. The weekly Zoom 12-step meetings continue with great reviews. We have had mid-month social hours online that are well attended, consistently lasting longer than the scheduled 60 minutes. We not only greet old friends, but we also forge new friendships with folks we didn’t know as undergraduates. So many classmates are participating that it’s impractical to list all of the names in this brief report. Allen Denison will offer more specifics, details, and updates in upcoming newsletters.

If you’re circling back after some time away, be sure that you have your copy of “The Book,” our 50th reunion encyclopedia of all things ’69. Your executive committee has drafted a resolution of appreciation for the team, with special recognition to David Prentice. We will never know the hundreds of hours that David, Henry Allen, and Dudley Kay (and others!) invested in the enterprise. Since the reunion we’ve been gifted a major update, including people and particulars that didn’t make the first printing. The Book 2.0 is available for download on our website. Grab your copy. If you don’t love it, we’ll give you all of your memories back.

Our class project, the major renovation and remodeling of the DOC House, makes impressive progress despite the pandemic. Paul Tuhus has shared detailed photos of the upgrades and enhancements. So many have given generously in terms of time, money, and energy, it’s impossible to list everyone. We are still raising funds, so please join the effort if you haven’t already. Many of us weren’t DOC regulars, but once you see the new house you’ll want to return whenever you’re on campus.

As always, we publish even more news at www.dartmouth69.org.

—John “Tex” Talmadge, 3519 Brookline Lane, Farmers Branch, TX 75234; (214) 673-9250; johntalmadgemd@gmail.com