Class Note 1985. It’s Class Notes deadline day, which means I’ve been thinking a lot about our classmates. I also am reminded of this quote attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt: “Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people.” To whatever degree that is true, it makes it tough to compose a column where literally the main job is to talk about people, but here are some things and people I have been thinking about. Does Tony Kingsley still look like Stuart Copeland of The Police? Does Kate Dean still ride horses? Has Ken Graham introduced himself to anyone as Wanasomdripa since 1985? Does Dan Kelly still throw a tight spiral? Does Diana Shannon still run? How fast can Dan Gray still run 800 meters? Does Ray Wagner still DJ? When was the last time Martin Steffen played soccer? Does Gretchen Sporleder now go by “Sigli”? Who’s older—Kyle or John Baraniak? So many questions, so little space to continue. I’ve also been thinking about what makes us unique. So often we are told “you’re one of a kind,” and while we have our collective bond, that individualism is true. Dan Fagin won a Pulitzer Prize. Laura Ingraham has had her own TV show for years. Scott Borek is an NCAA hockey coach (currently the head coach at Merrimack College). Matthew Dickerson (listed by Wikipedia by this cool descriptor “American academic”) is an oft-published author and J.R.R. Tolkien scholar. Think about what makes you unique and let me or Rebecca know. It would be a good theme for a column. I’ll offer this: I’ve officiated more than 4,000 athletic contests (football, basketball, boys’ lacrosse). Is anyone else a referee? Has anyone else completed a Hyrox competition? I’ve also been thinking about how timing impacts opportunity. The early class columns often had a variation of “Mike Reilly was seen at 5 Olde.” I am sure Mike misses 5 Olde and I know I do but think about how that message was somewhat like a pre-Facebook sign of things to come. Imagine if one of our classmates had created Facebook and shared that Mike was at 5 Olde—it would have received a ton of likes. Alas, it’s simply a blurb in this column. On a sad note, I received notice from the College that our classmate Brooke Wesley Bethel passed away in Columbus, Ohio, in October 2025. Please take a moment to think of Brooke and his family. In closing, I hope reunion was fantastic and everyone there had an opportunity to talk about ideas and events while also connecting with people. I’ll continue to talk about people in my next column at the risk of being small minded. Go class of ’85!
—John MacManus, 118 Ringwood Road, Rosemont, PA 19010; (610) 331-6417; slampong@aol.com;Rebecca Blake Osborne, 42 Olive St., Newburyport, MA 01950; (603) 381-4164; rosborne29@comcast.net