We write this column in late summer knowing that it will be the November/December issue when you shall see it amidst the thoughts and plans for the coming holidays. November, after the bright colors and changes of October, can be dreary, but, as Robert Frost reminds us in “My November Guest”:


“…I learned to know


The love of bare November days


Before the coming of the snow….”


The mini-reunion in Asheville, North Carolina, hosted by Paul Merriken and Shirley Tenny, was attended by 55 classmates, spouses and widows. Distance travelers included Frances and Joe Bachman, Nancy and Frank Carlton, G. and Bob Edwards, Dave Heegard, Betty Jo and Jim Nelsen and Jim Wiggin.


The Class of 1955 Award was presented to Eliot Smith to recognize his career achievements and dedicated service to the community, the College and the class. He has received several awards for his significant leadership contributions in community service: e.g., Habitat for Humanity, American Cancer Society Man to Man (prostrate cancer) and the Jacksonville, Florida, Good Neighbor Award. Eliot has served Dartmouth faithfully since graduation: interviewer, club officer, alumni councilor, Thayer School executive committee member and Agent of the Decade, and Dartmouth College Fund class agent for fraternities. 


Justin and John Braestrup traveled to Mystic, Connecticut, for a massive family reunion September 5-7 (40 to 50 from here and abroad), when they celebrated his Danish grandfather’s command of the sailing ship Georg Stage, which is now berthed at Mystic as the Joseph Conrad.


Nick Kotz continues in demand to discuss his book, The Harness Maker’s Dream. He was a presenter at the National Book Festival, Washington, D.C., August 30, then the Jewish Literary Festival, also in D.C., October 24, followed by events in Houston and Dallas in October and November. 


We had a nice chat with Dick Barr recently in which he advised us that he is now a designated “soccer grandpa,” driving granddaughter Paisley back and forth to her practices in Londonderry, Vermont.


My best wishes for a joyous and fulfilling holiday season.


Sadly we report the passing of Tom Fulton, Robert Hadley, Tim Hutchinson, Bob Keane, Dave Page and Richard Snell.


—Ken Lundstrom, 1101 Exchange Place, #1106, Durham, NC 27713; (919) 206-4639; kenlundstrom@yahoo.com