A 40-year best friendship is a wonder to behold, something Dr. Gary Schillhammer and architect Geordie Selkirk cultivate.


“Hammer” lives not far from the Canadian border, in fact there is a glacier gleaming in his back yard in Arlington, Washington, though he is a general practitioner working nearby in Darrington. A couple of years ago we were watching a high school baseball game featuring his youngest son on the mound and Hammer casually mentioned that he had delivered a good many of the members of the home team!


Geordie e-mailed me that he had seen Gary last May; Geordie’s 16-year-old son hiked the W route in Patagonia, Chile, in July, and Geordie’s 12-year-old daughter “is enjoying growing up, singing and playing.” From Geordie’s bio at the Freelon Group: “At the University of Washington, in Seattle, Geordie earned a master of architecture with an urban design certificate. Prior to joining Freelon, while in private practice, he earned an M.B.A. from UNC at Chapel Hill. He is a LEED-accredited professional and a member of the American Institute of Architects and the Urban Land Institute.”


I missed the reunion class photo for good reason, as it interfered with catching up with Bart Geer at recently renovated Zeta Psi, where we were the old guys. Bart never let on as an undergraduate that he had an aptitude for investments, but now Bart heads up BlackRock Basic Value after a successful 10-year tenure as manager at Putnam Equity Income. Congratulations, Bart.


Time to toss kudos to a couple of summa cum laude classmates. First, John F. Brenner, partner at N.Y.C. firm Pepper Hamilton (which has been around since 1890 and boasts 500 lawyers nationwide), has been named to the New York Super Lawyers, an honor bestowed on fewer than 5 percent of all the lawyers in the state. John’s law degree is from the University of Virginia. Second, George Shackelford, curator at the Kimbell Art Museum at Fort Worth, Texas, received his Ph.D. from Yale in 1986. George is considered an expert in French art of the late-19th and early-20th centuries and has served as curator or co-curator for numerous successful shows, including the best-attended art show in the world in 1998, “Monet in the 20th Century.” Furthermore, in 2005 George was honored by France with the prestigious title Chevalier de l’ordre des arts et des lettres (knight of the order of arts and letters).


Another ’77 who has enjoyed Texas-sized success wherever he has been is director of the Dallas Museum of Art, Maxwell Anderson, the subject of a September 10, 2012, interview in The Dartmouth. Maxwell boils down his daily challenge to “how to make old art alive and make new art relevant.” When confronted with Dartmouth’s “Year of the Arts,” this former head of Madison Avenue’s Whitney and the Indianapolis Museum of Art simply argues for a century of the arts!


Kent Dauten, managing partner of Keystone Capital, was recently honored by the Lutheran Social Services of Illinois with its 2012 Amicus Certus (true friend) Award for the work and support he has given this agency. Kent is also active in fundraising for the College. Thank you, Kent.


—John T. Bird, 1920 Chateau Circle, Apt. 306, Birmingham, AL 35209; (205) 276-4609; jtbird.com@gmail.com