Greetings, fellow ’70s. As I begin writing this column Ann and I are homeward bound on JetBlue following Homecoming Weekend in Hanover. A small but spirited group of classmates were on hand to enjoy the festivities and witness the football team’s dismantling of Columbia, 37-0. They included Murnie and Steve Leary, Dave Wadleigh, Wayne Osmond, Star Johnson, Mike Doherty and Ann and Bill Wilson. It is reported that Tom Peisch made a cameo appearance arriving Saturday morning and leaving at halftime to return home in time to have dinner with Joe Avellone and Bob Harrington. Also, it was great to see John Howard in town for the weekend. John left Dartmouth during our undergraduate years to serve in the U.S. Army and graduated with the class of 1973. He was back as a registrant at the class of 1971’s 40th reunion.


Kudos to Jim Aukerman, who was recently honored by the Rhode Island Foundation with the Harold B. Soloveitzik Professional Leadership Award recognizing “enduring commitment to philanthropy” in the Ocean State. A lifelong resident of Rhode Island, Jim continues to practice law in his hometown of Wakefield. Coincidentally this year’s foundation honorees also included Sandy McCullough ’50, a former trustee of the College. 


Jeff Nordgren reports that he and six of his Brown Hall mates reunited in Boston for a weekend this past summer. Jeff, Bruce Brezinski, Chip Cody, Jim Gass, Barry Hart, Doug Karp and Rajesh Singh were there to celebrate “finding” Rajesh, who, after a career in international banking, is now settled in Greenwich, Connecticut, just a few miles from Doug, who resides in Stamford. Jeff writes, “A delicious, obligatory Italian meal was followed by a roundtable discussion that seemed (to all involved) to have covered all aspects of pending U.S. Supreme Court cases.” And some of these guys aren’t even lawyers! It just goes to show that mini-reunions are what you make of them.


For those who read Sports Illustrated I hope you saw the recent piece on the iconic 1989 movie Major League, starring Charlie Sheen. The producer of that movie is our own Chris Chesser, who admits in an SI interview that the movie “would be impossible today. Getting approval (from Major League Baseball) to use the Yankees as the enemy in Major League would be a (expletive) nightmare.” Chris, I and my fellow Bosox fans give you our permission! Chris has spent his career in motion picture production and his latest offering, Phase One, is awaiting release at the time of this writing.


Finally, our deepest sympathies go out to Dave Ullrich and his family on the death of Dave’s wife, Polly, in a car accident near their vacation home in Wisconsin this past summer. Polly and Dave were married 39 years and she was a noted art critic and writer in Chicago.


Best wishes to all for a healthy and prosperous 2012. Keep those cards, letters and e-mails coming. They make it a lot easier to produce this column on a regular basis.


—Bill Wilson, 304 Highlands Bluffs Drive, Cary, NC 27518; wilson8689@aol.com