A nice surprise this spring was a delightful letter from John Cavanagh recalling our days as grad students here in North Carolina in the 1960s—he in history at Duke while I did things in the chem lab at the University of North Carolina. John and Beth are in San Antonio, Texas, now where he has retired after a half century of teaching at Duke, Suffolk University and University of Tennessee. He reports they have been able to travel extensively throughout parts of Europe, Mexico and South America. John’s favorite sport has been downhill skiing, but he has swapped that for the comforts of his pool.


Also out West is Steve Schmeider, who is residing in a retirement center in Bakersfield, California. Steve enjoys the various dance parties offered, including country and western and describes himself as “a happy fella.” Also in California are Bill and Ilse Cassell (Sierra Madre). They have had a good winter skiing at various resorts, including Breckenridge, Colorado, where they met up with Earl Fain (Santa Fe, New Mexico). Santa Fe is also the home of fellow chemistry major Joe Eigner, with whom we had a long phone call to catch up on the many things that have transpired through the years. Joe is retired from a research position with Washington University Medical School, St. Louis, Missouri. He was also involved in passing environmental hazardous waste legislation during a brief position with the state. In Santa Fe Joe continues his environmental work as chairman of a large, local recycling group. 


We sadly report the passing of Dick Batchelder February 14 from Parkinson’s disease. Dick had a distinguished teaching and coaching career in Rockport and Beverly, Massachusetts, in addition to serving as a guidance counselor. Dick was known as “Mr. Giveaway” in his unpaid role with the Boston Celtics in providing free tickets for hundreds of children through the years. Beyond that he provided numerous scholarships for children to attend local basketball clinics and camps. 


Please remember to support the Dartmouth College Fund team of Woody Goss, Eliot Smith and Paul Merriken by June 30. 


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