A healthy peaceful 2015 to each of you.


Report from Jon Mendes, who completed 13 miles (a half marathon) of the New York Marathon at age 94! Give Jon a rouse.


To gather material for this column, we asked classmates for experiences they considered unique about their years at Dartmouth, impressions for younger alumni. First response came from Ed Chalfant (the last current issue), second from Bob Gale (below). Look for Warren Carlson in the next issue. 


“Each Dartmouth freshman brings a unique background. Mine was limited. From Iowa, I had never journeyed east of Illinois. (The country was still in the Great Depression.) My traveling-salesman father was kind but often away. My mother was over sheltering. I was never away from her, ever, before going to Dartmouth. (Neither parent attended college.) My one brother, older, outdid me in sports and chess. (We had no sister.) I grew up incredibly shy, bright enough, therefore a bookworm, sometimes read a book a day, never ever had a high school date, had few high school friends. (My three closest—Bert, Bob, and Garth—were killed in WW II.) Once in Hanover I was secretly homesick at first, remained a bookworm, waited on tables as part of my scholarship, never socialized much—no fraternity, no camping, no skiing. So what do I remember of my Dartmouth experience? Exceptional friendships with six classmates: Al Britton, Ed Chalfant, Dick Ensor, Alex Fanelli, Jim Robinson, Bob Searles—all, however, interrupted too long by WW II and separate scrambling afterwards. What I also remember are seven professors: John Finch, Raymond Guthrie, Fran Gramlich, Foster Guyer, John Hurd, Tom Vance, Philip Wheelwright. To this day I regret not keeping in touch with them. I entered the academic life after the war. But my years of graduate study provide zero memories comparable to those of Dartmouth, its challenging opportunities and the maturity it encouraged. (My 63 years of solid marriage, now concluded, yield their own unique memories.) My advice to possible readers? Work less, live more.”


Once again we have the sad duty to report the following deaths: Hazen Hinman, contributor to Dartmouth at War, William Knoff, Clifford Roberts, Allen Britton and Jerry Tallmer, who played a major role in our book Dartmouth at War, from writing the introduction to his memoirs and a major role as one of its editors. 


—Leo F. Caproni Jr., 370 East 76 St., Apt. A 406, New York City, NY 10021; (212) 988-6012; (212) 988-6715 (fax); caproni@aol.com