One of the coolest parts of this “job” is finding out about people you never knew at Dartmouth. David Peale is one of those people. He lives near me in San Diego and was a physics major, a pole vaulter for the track team and sang with the Chamber Singers. He was surprised that he and I didn’t cross paths at some point but we probably did somewhere! It’s not that big a campus, but what I figured out at graduation, sitting with people I somehow hadn’t seen since freshman year, was that there were a lot more people running around campus than I thought!


David now does private physics and engineering consulting. He mostly works on a project related to the brain-mapping initiative. David notes that he had a wonderful time at Dartmouth, and having seen other Ivy League schools up close while a teaching assistant in physics, realizes that “Dartmouth is a very special place of learning.”


Ken Johnson hosted a micro-mini-reunion with the classes of ’82 and ’84 following President Hanlon’s talk in Denver with “maybe a dozen people at its peak.” Michael Sullivan attended, but Ken was apparently sworn to secrecy about what Michael is doing these days because he “refused” to give me details. Ken does report that the Hanlon event was “a smashing success. There were a couple of videos shown during President Hanlon’s speech. One was a montage about the new president and his plans for Dartmouth, while the other was about students on a foreign study program in India learning about and helping an impoverished community. Both were compelling. President Hanlon spoke eloquently and didn’t shy away from directly addressing the not-so-savory issues on campus today, including sexual assault and civility.”


Following President Hanlon’s talk in Seattle, about 15 ’82s, ’83s and ’84s gathered at a local restaurant. Included in the fun were Bruce Basset, John Harvard and wife Michele, Peter Hussey and wife Winky ’84 and Courtenay Newton. Dan Drais and Roger Goodman attended the talk. Much to Courtenay’s surprise, the group stayed out late—11-11:30 p.m.—on a work night!


I heard from an anonymous source that Pete Spalding is alive and well. He owns a company called Gordon International that makes furniture for companies. My source says Pete seems happy and he has a son at Dartmouth. Pete “honestly looks exactly the same and is just as funny.”


Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the center for leadership and media studies at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, has been elected chair of the political communication section of the American Political Science Association. The section includes roughly 400 political science professors and graduate students who study the intersection of media and politics.


And the bad part of this “job?” Reporting deaths. Rick Gagne died on May 28, nine weeks after being diagnosed with cancer. An obituary will be posted online shortly. Our condolences to Rick’s family. Forever green.


—Maren Christensen, 173 S. Nardo Ave., Solana Beach, CA 92075; marenjc@yahoo.com