Class Notes 1962

This issue introduces a new regular feature: “News from and about our partners in life.” We’d love to hear from our partners (who are all classmates honoris causa) and from our classmates about our partners in life who make the world a better place.

Candy Funke writes: “Thank you, Woody, for your kind words about Carl. I am heartbroken as he was such a wonderful partner, the love of my life, an amazing father to our daughters, and the best grandfather. We were truly blessed.

“Dartmouth meant so much to both of us. Even though I didn’t know Carl at Dartmouth, through Carl the great lifelong Dartmouth friendships we have made through the many years are so cherished. So please keep me in touch and in the network news. I want to remain a part of the class of ’62 and stay connected.

“As Carl was fighting for his life, Al Huck, a great and dear friend of ours, was doing the same. They were fraternity brothers and roommates in L.A. early on in their business careers. Carl got to heaven a little sooner and was up there waiting to greet him. I am seeing some heavenly beer pong!”

Mary Victor Giersch writes: “It has been a lonely six and a half years since Charlie died. I have to say my two dogs, an English setter and a Moyen poodle, have been such comforting everyday companions, and our three sons, wives, and four grandsons have helped every step of the way. Keeping involved at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Hanover, where Charlie loved singing in the choir, working for Mount Holyoke College fundraising, helping as cosecretary of our class of ’62, playing tennis, and running our lovely home keeps me fully engaged. I miss having more time to read or take an Osher course—as well as travel as we used to do. Nonetheless, I am blessed.”

I regret to report the death of Claude “Al” Alexander Huck of Eagle, Colorado, on September 12. (See the video of his memorial service at https://bit.ly/3YuEisi.)

—David L. Smith, 1810 Columbine Place, Sun City Center, FL 33573; (775) 870-2354; david@davidl smith.com

In response to a letter sent by Al Huck, Alan Rapoport, and me to President Beilock, describing the Caring Class Network and suggesting the concept might be reproducible by other classes, we received a warm and encouraging reply stating that our proposal would be disseminated.

Writing to Jim Blair,who organized the Dan Tompkins Memorial Fund for Classics, department chair Margaret Graver shared: “The generosity of Dan’s friends and your own vigorous organizational efforts will make a huge difference to our departmental library.” The fund, now totaling $8,600, remains open for contributions (jamesnblair@gmail.com).

President Woody Chittick writes: “JoAnne and I attended Sandy Apgar’s memorial service in May along with Susan and Peter Brink and Gary Speiss’s widow, Betsy. In June JoAnne and I attended Mike Schaefer and Heide Bruegmann’s fifth wedding anniversary bash in Southampton, Massachusetts, joined by Karen and Josh Rich.”

Our class valedictorian Jim Hale, after a luncheon with Chuck Cohen, wrote: “I am still teaching and coaching classes in corporate governance, mergers, and acquisitions to seniors at Florida Gulf Coast University in Southwest Florida. Chuck reports that he is still teaching law students full time in Pittsburgh, commuting regularly from Florida.”

Quick takes: From John Damon to “fellow neighbors here on the Cape, Pat and Gordy McKean, warm hello and congrats on Gordy’s recent successful ablation and pacemaker surgery.” David Feingold, back in Bangkok after a three-month home visit to Philadelphia, advises us to get checked and treated early for age-related macular degeneration. The Henry Goldsmiths are headed to London, where he grew up. Zaida and Peter Knight will be touring England and Ireland in August. Tyko Kihlstedt flew to Detroit to visit Bob Van Dam following the death of Gayle, Bob’s wife of 61 years. I’ll be heading to Argentina and Uruguay in October for visits with family and schoolmates.

I regret to report the deaths of William “Skip” C. Hall Jr. of Manila, Philippines, on January 6; William “Bill” E. Stern of Del Mar, California, on March 18; David F. Frankel, M.D., of Miami on March 28; Richard “Dick” Heraty of Unterach am Attersee, Austria, on February 11, 2019.

—David L. Smith, 1810 Columbine Pl., Sun City Center, FL 33573; (775) 870-2354; david@davidl smith.com

Two for the road to recovery. Good reports from Frank Kehl, recovered after surgery some months ago. Pat reports Gordy McKean, released from hospitalization and brief rehab on January 22, recently passed his six-week checkup with flying colors, albeit with lingering tiredness. “It will probably be a year before he will be his normal robust self and able to work in the garden and shellfish as he did before.”

Alan Rapoport, Al Huck, David “Bags” Bergman, and Bernie Jacobs continue their valuable contribution through Caring Class Network Zoom sessions big and small. The larger lecture sessions, including members of the classes of 1960 and 1963, have been attended by audiences typically ranging between 50 and 65. The latest presentation by my wife, Elizabeth Fagan, M.D., updated us on Covid-19 and emphasized the importance of obtaining the Shingrix vaccine for shingles.

Bags and Bernie continue to hold monthly, small, group sessions addressing the challenges experienced by caregivers. To be added to the mailing list, contact Alan (alanrapoport@gmail.com).

Jim Blair reports that contributions to the memorial fund for Dan Tompkins now total $6,400 with additional checks reported to be in the mail. The proceeds will go toward purchases of books for Dartmouth’s classics department, where Dan both learned and taught. Each book will be emblazoned with a bookplate in memory of Dan as a classical scholar. To contribute contact jamesnblair@gmail.com.

Recommended reading: “It was Mike Slive’s SEC Grand Slam—Greg Sankey’s Just Rounding the Bases,” an article by Rock Westfall in the Mike Farrell Sports blog February 9 (http://tinyurl.com/ehd6znjj). In 2002 “Mike Slive stepped into an SEC perceived by the nation as being an illiterate NASCAR moonshiner. And then he went to work.…By 2006, Slive rebuilt a league ready for takeoff. The Florida Gators won the first of seven consecutive national championships by SEC programs, and the league became the Gold Standard of college football.…As Bill Parcells would say, ‘You are what your record says you are.’ Slive died as the GOAT [greatest of all time] of college commissioners.”

—David L. Smith, 1810 Columbine Place, Sun City Center, FL 33573; (775) 870-2354; david@davidl smith.com

Despite the loss to Yale, the annual mini-reunion in October provided good times, fellowship, and fond reminiscences during mealtimes and the annual class meeting at the Paganucci Lounge as well as the now-traditional Saturday night dinner at Jesse’s. Thank you, Heide and Mike Schaefer,for yourlongstanding, clockwork organization of the event.

In Bangkok last October, David Feingold concluded his remarkable touring photo exhibition Cambodia War and Beauty. Versions of the show have been in Siem Reap, Phnom Penh, and Paris. (See https://tinyurl.com/5cv2jxxh.) Also see Tyko Kihlstedt’s intriguing photos titled Portraits and Annotations of the Manhattan Climate March of 2023 at https://tinyurl.com/2hu24uka.

Now on the mend, Frank Kehl shared an informative and moving account of his recent successful heart surgery at Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital. I’m unable to do it justice in the space allotted, so those interested should request a copy at fkehl@us-cx.com.

Spending summer months at their cabin in Deer Island, Maine, Zaida and Peter Knight hostedtheir annual “Maniac” micro-reunion including John Galley, Bill Carpenter and Donna Gold, and Brooke and Richard Dojny. The Knights attended the annual mini-reunion in Hanover and, later traveling to Doylestown, Pennsylvania, moved into their new apartment complex to be near their two sons and their families. As digital content manager, Peter maintains the award-winning class website (1962.dartmouth.org, where, among other things, he posts obituaries and news of reunions) and private Facebook page (“Dartmouth Class of 1962,” where classmates are encouraged to post text and photos). Peter has updated his confidential Google Earth maps of our primary and secondary residences. To access instructions, go to https://tinyurl.com/46fcpd3f. As if that weren’t enough, Peter has also assumed the duties of majordomo of the class listservs, a function previously performed by our late and sorely missed Dan Tompkins. Wah-hoo-wah, Peter.

On a personal note, Elizabeth and I have relocated to Auckland, New Zealand, for an extended, possibly permanent stay to be near Elizabeth’s remaining family. (Our mailing address remains in Florida.)

I regret to report the deaths of William “Bill” E. Marsh of Port Angeles, Washington, on January 24, 2023, and George B. Haubner of Tampa, Florida, on May 1.

—David L. Smith, 1810 Columbine Place, Sun City Center, FL 33573; (775) 870-2354; david@ davidlsmith.com

A hearty wah-hoo-wah for Rog Usborne for a marvelous “Sail the Trail” cruise. For photos and details, see Al Huck’s newsletter and Kathy Schwartz’s photo album.

Jim Blair writes: “The Ridgewood dinners, so well organized by the late Irwin Kramer since 2011, reappeared last May 16 at La Lanterna restaurant in Ridgewood, New Jersey. Present were Wendy and Jim Blair, Ronna and Ed Steingold, Ross Burkhart and Elaine Oserhaut, Tyko Kihlstedt, Dorothy and Frank Kehl and their son, Doug. Carl Funke, Barry Alpern, and Bernie Jacobs expressed interest but were unable to attend this first revival. We launched this first post-Covid gathering with a toast to Irwin.

John Allen writes from Owings, Maryland: “After 45 years as a producer of educational and documentary films, I enter my fourth consecutive year of teaching high school named ‘Teacher of the Year’ for Calvert County Maryland Public Schools. After graduating from Dartmouth in 1962 I received an M.A.T. from Wesleyan University and taught at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois. I soon gravitated into the film business, getting an M.A. from Northwestern in radio, television, and film.

“Since 1981 my wife, Rhoda, and I operated our film production business, Signature Communication, in Maryland. This business led me to far-flung places—Kyrgyzstan, Chile, Dominican Republic, New Zealand, and the South Pole—and opened opportunities to interview people who have helped shape American history and culture, such as the ‘Little Rock Nine,’ Maya Angelou, Buzz Aldrin, Anthony Fauci, and Japanese Americans interned in World War II. Retiring from the business in 2018, I returned to teaching again, this time featuring the film, broadcasting, and journalism content I had embraced professionally for more than 30 years, leading to the present award. Rhoda passed away in 2021. I continue to teach and produce documentaries. It has been a fun ride.”

Correction: Nancy and David Pritchard have moved to Columbus, Indiana, not Ohio.

I regret to report the deaths of Ronald N. “Tag” Tagney of Vero Beach, Florida, on May 1; and professor Daniel P. “Dan” Tompkins, of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, on June 10.

—David L. Smith, 1814 Columbine Place, Sun City Center, FL; (775) 870-2354; david@davidlsmith.com

Staying connected and involved tops Woody Chittick’s list of priorities as class president. To that end, Jill Schiffman accepted Woody’s invitation to form a group of honorary class members consisting of wives, widows, and distaff partners as a vehicle for communicating with each other and encouraging their participation in class activities, including submitting news to Class Notes and class newsletter; participating in class discussions on the various listservs; joining the Zoom sessions of the Caring Class Network; attending reunions and class trips; and becoming class officers and members of various class committees. Classmates are encouraged to invite their better halves to join in by contacting Jill (at jillschiffman18@gmail.com), who will supply contact information for these activities. For further information, read the minutes of the February 2 class meeting prepared by our co-secretary Mary Vic Giersch, posted on our website: https://1962.dartmouth.org.

Classmates downsizing and moving near family: Nancy and Dave Pritchard relocated to Columbus, Ohio. Anita and Colin Harley moved to a retirement community 10 minutes from Charleston, South Carolina. Zaida and Peter Knight will be heading to Doylestown, Pennsylvania, in June. Elizabeth and I are now living in Sun City Center, Florida. My roommate, Tom Hector, and I will be meeting in mid-March for two days of bass fishing at lakes near Kissimmee, Florida.

Susan and Peter Brink areback visiting in Capetown, South Africa, fulfilling a love affair with the continent beginning with a 1966 Ford Foundation grant in Lesotho.

Mini-reunion organizer Mike Schaefer (my other roomie, mschaefer@octobercompany.com) writes: “The mini-reunion is scheduled for Friday, October 6, to Sunday, October 8. Dinner will be at Jesse’s and the football game will be Yale on Saturday. I will reserve 10 rooms at the Norwich Inn for the class and hold them until June.”

I regret to report the deaths of Dr. Kendall “Ken” A. Gerdes of Portland, Oregon, on July 28, 2022; William “Bill” P. Wolfe III of Chittenden, Vermont, on December 12, 2022; Thomas R. “Bob” Mahoney of Port Charlotte, Florida, on December 29, 2022; and former Vermont Supreme Court Justice the Hon. James L. Morse of Charlotte, Vermont, on January 13.

—David L. Smith, RR4 Box 225B4, Galveston, TX 77554; (775) 870-2354; david@davidlsmith.com

Once again, Mike Schaefer and his wife, Heide, flawlessly organized the annual mini-reunion in Hanover during the first weekend in October, with a total of 30 attendees. President Woody Chittick presided over the class meeting, with eight additional classmates attending by Zoom. Highlights: Co-tripmeister Roger Usborne presented highlights of the “Sail the Trail” (of Lewis and Clark) cruise down the Snake and Columbia rivers in Washington from Spokane to Vancouver from April 23 to May 1. (Contact rwusborne@cox.net or call 619-871-9207.) Alan Rapoport announced that on October 11 Elizabeth Fagan, M.D., would present her fourth update on Covid-19 on behalf of the Caring Class Network. Woody proposed a reduction in the size of the executive committee and in the number of meetings to three per year. The 2023 mini will take place October 6-8 (Yale).

Research anthropologist and award-winning documentary filmmaker David Feingold presented a photographic exhibition, Cambodia: War and Beauty, at the American University of Paris on October 5-28 (https://bit.ly/3Fp4viY). Watch this space for a recap of David’s legendary career.

Jim Blair reports that he has commenced efforts to revive the class dinners in Ridgefield, New Jersey, launched by Irwin Kramer around 2011. The dinners were held about three times a year at Irwin’s favorite restaurant, La Lanterna, which featured great Italian food and an equally great bring-your-own policy for beverages. Classmates and spouses came from as near as Ridgewood and as far as the mid-Hudson Valley, 75 miles north. Attendees have included Frank Kehl, John Clark, Tyko Kihlstedt, Carl Funke, Roy Schoen, Brock Saxe. The dinners, now renamed Irwin Kramer Memorial Dinners, hit a first roadblock with Covid and a second with Irwin’s death on January 31, 2022. A detailed announcement to classmates in the New York metro area will be going out shortly and Jim has great expectations that a quorum will respond.

In addition to the death of Irwin P. Kramer of Hackensack, New Jersey, reported above, I regret to report the deaths of Robert C. Olson, M.D., of St. Louis Park, Minnesota, on September 15, and Joseph O. Myers of Watsontown, Pennsylvania, on August 27.

—David L. Smith, RR4 Box 225B4, Galveston, TX 77554; (775) 870-2354; david@davidlsmith.com

“And a good time was had by all,” as the saying goes, thanks to our veteran reunion co-chairs, Dick Brooks and Bill Pierce. We celebrated our 60th reunion in style, as Al Huck ably described in his recent class newsletter, despite being forced by Covid-19 to withdraw on the second day of the reunion. Covid prevented outgoing class president Barry Halperin from attending.

At the class meeting we voted for the slate of elected class officers for the next five years: president Woody Chittick; vice president Richard Hannah; treasurer (for life) Charlie Balch; co-secretaries David Smith and Mary Vic Giersch. Appointed officers include Tom Komarek and Rog Usborne, co-tripmeisters; Peter Knight, digital content manager; Dan Tompkins, Sandy Apgar, Peter Brink, and Gary Spiess,faculty fellowship committee; John Walters, Alumni Council representative; Gene Gasbarro, class of 2012 liaison; and Mike Schaefer, mini-reunion chairman who will organize our fall mini this coming September 30 to October 2 (Penn).

After an extraordinary decade as head agent, John Schiffman—with thanks to all co-agents and his predecessors, John Walters and the late John Clark—passed the baton to Al Cook. As his final official act John presented President Hanlon with a check for $519,620, funds raised during the 2022 campaign, with the prospect of more to come before the campaign closed on June 30. Steve Reid presented a symbolic “check” for $41,790,983 (!) representing the total class contributions to the Call to Lead campaign in cash and bequests by members of the Bartlett Tower Society.

’Round the girdled earth they roam: Ann and Charlie Balch in Paris; Susan and Peter Brink and Mary Jane and Al Cook in Africa; and Elizabeth Fagan and yours truly in London.

Tom Green received the prestigious Brady Legal Action Award for his extraordinary efforts to set precedent in our courts to change the landscape of America’s gun violence epidemic.

I regret to report the unexpected death of John D. Thees Jr. of Magnolia, Texas, on May 27. At the request of his widow, Elyse Taylor, we raised a glass to John’s memory during the reunion. David B. Harrel died May 24.

—David L. Smith, RR4 Box 225B4, Galveston, TX 77554; (775) 870-2354; david@davidlsmith.com

From reunion organizers Bill Pierce and Dick Brooks: “We have had a tremendous preliminary response. More than 200 classmates and spouses are planning to attend our 60th this June 13-16. You will not want to miss this opportunity to see old friends and meet new ones. So plan on coming.

“Please promptly fill out your online registration form (no more snail mail), which you probably have received from the College and will help in our planning. Don’t hesitate to seek help if you have any problem with the form.

“We have many activities and meals planned, culminating in a lobster bake (steak for carnivores) on our last night. Most of our activities will be outdoors to take advantage of June in New Hampshire.

“A word on Covid. Our primary concern is everybody’s safety. We will be conforming to the latest College and CDC recommendations with vaccinations a must. We will update guidance as we move closer to June.

“Reservations for College dorms will be sent out to all. Local area hotels may be found at alumni.dartmouth.edu/upper-valley-lodging.

“Any questions in the meantime, please contact any of us: Bill Pierce at wcpierce@att.net, Dick Brooks at rkbrooks40@gmail.com, or Charlie Balch at cabalch@aol.com.”

Our honorary class member, retired computer science professor Tom Cormen, has become “Jeopardy-famous,” featured as the answer to a $1,200 Jeopardy question in a category called, “They wrote your textbooks.” The textbook in question is Introduction to Algorithms, with more than 1 million copies sold.

I regret to report the deaths of Ellis E. Kern on April 1, 2021, at West Palm Beach, Florida; John G. Coe onDecember 7, 2021, at Rio Rancho, New Mexico; Paul R. Duncan of Naples, Florida, on December 15, 2021; George E. Douglas on December 28, 2021, at his winter home in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; Charles J. “Bud” Baumann on January 1 at Billings, Montana; Peter L. Weldy on January 17; James N. “Jim” Johnson III on February 9 at Tucson, Arizona; and Jonathan Gershovitz, who, Ed Hirsch reports, “died a few weeks ago of end-stage Parkinson’s disease in Israel, where he lived for more than 50 years.”

—David L. Smith, RR4 Box 225B4, Galveston, TX 77554; (775) 870-2354; david@davidlsmith.com

High praise (“the best ever”) for our annual mini-reunion during Homecoming Weekend organized by Mike Schaefer and Heide Breugmann and attended by 23 classmates and 18 spouses. All the usual festivities were featured, along with the annual class meeting, duly Zoomed by Peter Knight for those unable to attend in person.

Dick Bragaw, who helped compile our 50th reunion book, combed through it to identify some of our class legends. Here’s part of his report: “Alan Rapoport, one of the nation’s leading doctors treating headaches, has written several books on the subject. Peter Brink, a national leader in preservation of historical landmarks, performed wonders in Galveston, Texas, for 17 years. Jim Varnum, more than any other individual, is responsible for making the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center what it is today. Hugh Johnson, one of the most respected securities analysts in the nation, appears regularly on CNBC and in The Wall Street Journal. Charlie Balch recorded many accomplishments in management consulting. Tom Green is the lawyer people in Washington, D.C., go to. Jay Moyer did a lot to make the NFL what it has become. Bill Carpenter,who went into the wilderness to found a new college in Maine, has written several novels and books of poetry. Doctors Manuel Buchwald, Richard Hannah, and George Beller (who recently offered a Zoom presentation on cardiovascular disease to our Caring Class Network) have made important contributions to their fields of medicine. Ted Beal,M.D., contributing to the field of psychiatry in treating returning combat veterans, has written a seminal book on the subject, War Stories from the Forgotten Soldiers. Doug Walgren served in the U.S. Congress for several terms.” Others on Dick’s list, both living and deceased, I will cite in due course. Meanwhile, I hope those of you mentioned will oblige me with interviews to be featured in upcoming Class Notes.

I regret to report the recent deaths of William “Bill” G. Quirk, Ph.D., of Boynton Beach, Florida, on January 25; Arthur “Artie” W. Hoover of Durham, New Hampshire, on September 6; and David C. Dalton of Port St. Lucie, Florida, on September 15.

—David L. Smith, RR4 Box 225B4, Galveston, TX 77554; (775) 870-2354; david@davidlsmith.com

Retired: Kent Hutchinson serves on the boards of directors of Fisher House, Charleston, South Carolina, providing free lodging for families of military veterans receiving treatment at the nearby VA Medical Center, and the USS Yorktown Foundation, supporting Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum across the Cooper River from Charleston. Quintessential “well-rounded individual” and former World Bank economist Peter Knight, Ph.D., remains active in retirement in Oregon, interacting with thought leaders internationally in the areas of innovation, sufficiency, and sustainability and campaigning for universal basic income. He practices competitive stand-up paddle racing and “lots of photography” (petertknight.com). After recovering from Covid-19, Tyko Kihlstedt is back playing tennis doubles in New York’s Central Park and photographing the city. He engages in liberal political activism on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram (tykokdt), and in the blogsphere (tykokihlstedt.com). Retired foreign service officer and ambassador Henry Clarke founded a public charity dedicated to assisting disadvantaged children from Kyrgyzstan. He has written a book about establishing the first U.S. embassy in Uzbekistan in 1962 to 1965 and serves as an election worker in Fairfax County, Virginia.

Still at it: Bill Carpenter retired in Maine in 2019 after 50 years of teaching at the university level, but missed his students, so he took on three Zoom classes (T.S. Eliot, Yeats, and Freud) and looks forward to teaching a semester of Robert Frost next year. Professor Jerry Cohen, 53 years on, still teaching German and etymology in Rolla, Missouri, enjoys the interaction with students and the challenges of research, much of it in working-paper form waiting to be published. After relocating to Michigan Neil Drobny, Ph.D., returned part-time to teaching an honors course on sustainable business practices at the business school of Western Michigan University.

Mark your calendars: October 8-10 for the annual mini-reunion during Homecoming (Yale) and June 13-16, 2022, for our 60th(!) reunion in Hanover.

I regret to report the deaths of William E. “Bill” Mahaney, Ph.D., of Salem, Massachusetts, on May 3; Sidney D. “Sid” Trapp Jr. of Canoga Park, California, on May 26; and Alan P. Weeks of Frederick, Maryland, on June 3.

—David L. Smith, RR4 Box 225B4, Galveston, TX 77554; (775) 870-2354; david@davidlsmith.com

Having recently joined the ranks of octogenarians, many classmates, wives, and widows are facing health and caregiver challenges as well as mourning the loss of loved ones and coping with the isolation and anxiety associated with Covid-19. Under the leadership of Al Huck (alexhuck@gmail.com) and Alan Rapoport (alanrapoport@gmail.com), the Caring Class Network (CCN) has been formed to create opportunities for classmates to share common family health challenges and gain access to experts and support resources both from within and outside the class. Fortunately, the class is endowed with many healthcare and mental health professionals who have generously agreed to be available to those in need of expert counsel and guidance. For further information and to access the list of volunteer class professionals and outside resources, refer to the CCN pages on the class website: 1962.dartmouth.org.

To get the ball rolling, 41 classmates, wives, and widows participated in the first CCN Zoom session moderated by Messrs. Huck and Rapoport to discuss the network’s objectives, exchange views on how to proceed, and share some of the challenges they are facing as patients and caregivers and thoughts on solutions and resources. In this connection we were joined by representatives of the Dartmouth Centers for Health and Aging at the Geisel School of Medicine and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health. To view the Zoom video, visit https://bit.ly/3szkYY7. Other Zoom sessions will follow. A dedicated listserv has been created for ongoing group conversation on related topics. To join, email mayordomo Dan Tompkins (daniel.tompkins@temple.edu).

A hearty non-PC wah hoo wah for seasoned novelist Bill Carpenter, whose latest novel, Silence, will be published by Islandport Press in June. Bill examines the bitter legacy of 9/11 from the perspective of an injured Maine veteran returning from Iraq. Look for it at www.islandportpress.com/bookshop.

After enjoying the view of Rio’s Copacabana beach for many years, Zaida and Peter Knight have relocated to Corvallis, Oregon, to be near family. A semi-professional photographer, Peter shares his photographs of the stirring Oregonian scenery at https://bit.ly/3dNbfcG.

I regret to report the death of Walter Bruce McRae of Athens, Georgia,on December 14, 2020.

—David L. Smith, RR4 Box 225B4, Galveston, TX 77554; (775) 870-2354; david@davidlsmith.com

Coping with Covid-19, continued. Dick Zartler checks in from Garland, Texas: “Fortunately I have been able to stay a little busy with online classes, both giving and taking, mostly with various environmental (but not tree-hugging) groups to which I belong: Texas Master Naturalist, Native Plant Society, Blackland Prairie Raptor Center, and West Texas Geology. The U.S. Tennis Association has also opened up tennis leagues under strict guidelines, so I get some exercise outdoors with socially distancing friends a couple of times a week. I do, however, miss the after-match world problem-solving discussions. I fear this will be the norm for quite a while.”

From Louisville, Kentucky, Fairleigh Lussky recommends Quartet, “a perfectly delightful movie found on Netflix. It is set in a retirement home for musicians in an English countryside. Beautiful photography, wonderful actors, no angst, just pure enjoyment.”

U.S. Navy Capt. Wendell Kjos after 51 (!) years of distinguished service as a Navy lawyer retired to Oakton, Virginia, with Nina, his wife of 52 years. Wendell finished his undergraduate and law degrees at the University of Minnesota. He served in a mind-boggling series of assignments, including assistant legal advisor and legislative assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in the immediate offices of Gen. Jones and Gen. Vessey, responsible for all international law as well as use of force. At one point Wendell was leading multiple cases totaling 80 percent of the Navy’s potential litigation liability. The class Facebook page contains a full description of his remarkable career and numerous awards.

Class Zoom sessions and lively political discussions on the G.I. listserv keep us in contact and engaged. To join the discussion, contact Dan Tompkins at pericles@temple.edu. We also stay in touch on Facebook (“Dartmouth Class of 1962”). From there you can follow links to the Facebook pages of 92 active members. To join contact digital content manager Peter Knight at peter@petertknight.com.

I regret to report the deaths of Dennis E. Niewoehner, M.D., on August 31, 2020, in Edina, Minnesota, and Edward A. Peterson of Hilton Head, South Carolina, on September 2, 2020. Obituaries are posted to the class website.

—David L. Smith, RR4 Box 225B4, Galveston, TX 77554; (775) 870-2354; david@davidlsmith.com

Welcome to life in the time of Covid-19.

Zaida and Peter Knight in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: “We’re in good health, sheltering in place above Copacabana Beach in our gilded cage with dawn outings to walk on the beach. When the water is not too rough, I go paddleboarding.”

Susan and Peter Brink, back in Norwich, Vermont, managed to avoid being stranded in Cape Town, South Africa, in March by switching airlines, returning to Boston via Dubai. Four days later South Africa was totally locked down.

Carl Herbold, Claremont, California, reports the state lockdown forced postponement of their move to a retirement community. In addition to walking the dog for an hour daily, Carl keeps a journal of the “plague experience” for his granddaughter and the archives of the local historical society, of which Carl is a past president.

Neil Drobny retired from Ohio State in May after a rewarding 16-year second career as an academic. Betty and Neil are downsizing for a move in July to Schoolcraft, Michigan, where they will enjoy lakeside living and proximity to Western Michigan University.

Bonnie and David French relocated to a continuing care retirement center in Dover, New Hampshire.

Dick Brooks in Quechee, Vermont: “Staying at home to avoid the Covid-19 infection, I have become more keenly aware of Mother Nature. Myrna and I take our dog for a walk along Dewey’s Pond in Quechee nearly every day where we see Canada geese and ducklings, red-winged blackbirds and waterside plants, flowers, and trees. With the iPhone app Picture This I can identify just about every plant or tree. We also spot a black bear occasionally.” Dick reports “a very strange empty feeling” pervades Hanover and the Green these days.

I regret to report our first loss to Covid-19, John D. (“Sparky”) Ryder, who died May 1. John E. Mann lost a hard-fought battle with leukemia on June 4. Charlie Gaillard,former CEO of General Mills, died of pancreatic cancer on June 14. General Thomas S. (“Tom”) Moorman Jr., former vice chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, died on June 18.

—David L. Smith, RR4 Box 225B4, Galveston, TX 77554; (775) 870-2354; david@davidlsmith.com

Congratulations to Ted Beal on the publication of his book, War Stories from the Forgotten Soldiers, “a collection of 31 riveting stories told by soldiers” stemming from nearly 5,000 interviews of combat veterans Ted conducted as a psychiatrist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The book, with an endorsement by President Emeritus Jim Wright, is available on Amazon. Be sure to leave a review.

Our very own research anthropologist and award-winning documentary filmmaker, Dr. David Feingold,and his wife, Dr. Heather Peters, have prepared a stunning photo exhibition, Cambodia: War and Beauty, from photos that he shot in Cambodia and in refugee camps along the Thai-Cambodia border since he first went there in 1961. Pictures include those taken with the Khmer Rouge and three other factions in the 1980s, focused on the revival and preservation of Khmer dance, focused on David’s work with deminers and the impact of mines, and the return of King Sihanouk. For a sampling of his photos and details of dates and locations of exhibitions in Cambodia and Paris, go to the “Class of ’62 Photographers” page on the class website: 1962.dartmouth.org. Any classmates wanting to attend the opening reception at the University of Paris on September 10 should contact David at ophidianfilms@hotmail.com for an invitation.

Indeed, ’round the girdled earth we roam and get together. Pics are posted on the class website of nano-reunions in Los Angeles; Houston; Peabody, Massachusetts; and Waccabuc, New York, for Gordy Aydelott’s 80 birthday celebration attended by Tom Davies, John Knight, Carl Funke, Barry Alperin, Jim Biggs, Wouter Goedkoop, John Knight, and Carl Jaeger.

Jim Blair reports full recovery from a recent stroke, allowing him and Wendy to repulse an attack of jumping worms on their rustic digs in upstate New York.

I regret to report the deaths of the following classmates: John T. “Jack” Edwards on November 6; Dennis G.R. Wilson on November 8; Gary L. Crellin, Th’64,on September 27; Richard G. “Dick” Maynard on December 28; and Dr. John E. Clark Jr. on February 20. Obituaries and remembrances can be found on the class website.

—David L. Smith, RR4 Box 225B4, Galveston, TX 77554; (775) 870-2354; david@davidlsmith.com

Co-tripmeisters Tom Komarek and Roger Usborne report that 79 classmates, wives, and significant others are booked for our 80th birthday celebration in San Antonio, Texas, April 26-30. Only nine more slots are available. The side-trip to Fredericksburg will include visits to the spectacular National Museum of the Pacific War, plus a luncheon at the Fredericksburg Brewery arranged by local resident Bill Sadd. Further details at 1962.dartmouth.org. As a preview, Tyko Kihlstedt shares a treasure chest of photos of San Antonio at https://bit.ly/33NUe9T.

The September/October online issue of Dartmouth Alumni Magazine included an online “web extra” and moving eulogy to “the most powerful man in college sports,” Mike Slive: “The Commish,” by John Walters and brother-in-law Alan Rapoport (https://bit.ly/2JoSLzp).

After 10 years of retirement, Michael Tan Creti and Jane are living in Hanover for the fall semester, “reinventing daily life and focusing on their avocations,” Jane on iconography and Mike on his writing. They are both caught up in “the heart of the Dartmouth experience,” enjoying “cultural events at the Hop, lecture series on campus, the open fellowship of St. Thomas’s Church, and walking in the village.” What a wonderful way to rekindle old memories, create new ones, and introduce our wives to a seminal epoch in our lives!

’Round the girdled earth go Susan and Peter Brink, returning to Africa (where Peter served in the Peace Corps), as they do every year. They toured Nairobi, the Serengeti, and Zanzibar. They also participated in an “uncruise” in Panama (everything important takes place off the ship) and tour of Costa Rica.

Next April Paul Weinberg will cruise for 18 days from Mumbai to the Mediterranean transiting the Suez Canal stopping in Jordan, Israel, Cyprus, Crete, Greece, and Sicily before debarking in Civitavecchia, Rome.

Elizabeth and I have been girdling a bit this year as well, spending nearly a month in China and Vietnam, as well as a brief return to my birthplace in Argentina. I must admit to a welter of conflicting emotions as we drove past Hill 327 just south of Danang airbase, the location of my observation post when stationed there in 1965.

—David L. Smith, RR4 Box 225B4, Galveston, TX 77554; (775) 870-2354; david@davidlsmith.com

Howard Weinberg was inducted as an alumni member of the Alpha of New Hampshire chapter of Phi Beta Kappa at Dartmouth last June. Each year the chapter nominates several persons from among the Dartmouth community distinguished in letters, science, or education, and significant contributions to the liberal arts.

The May/June alumni magazine featured a quirky article about our late classmate and presidential candidate, Paul Tsongas, elected U.S. representative in 1974 and U.S. senator in 1978, serving until 1985. Paul’s widow, Niki, represented Paul’s old Massachusetts District 5 for 12 years (from January 2007 to January 2019).

David French and Sumner “Sonny” Kabler became friends as player and undergrad manager, respectively, on the varsity baseball team. That friendship endures, sustained in part by their common interest in Dartmouth and Boston Red Sox baseball. They often text during televised games, as David put it, “like we are in the same dugout again commenting on the Red Sox players and opponents, recommending when Cora should bring in relievers, booing the umps, etc., even though I’m in New Hampshire and he’s in Houston.” David’s career spanned insurance (including 19 years in Singapore) and human resources for 13 years before retirement. Sonny’s career was with Exxon, during which he met his wife, Carmen, in Venezuela. The Kablers recently reunited with David and Bonnie in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and will attend the mini in Hanover October 4-6.

Speaking of impromptu reunions, before we departed on a three-week tour of China and Vietnam, Elizabeth and I hosted Michaela and Tom Hector and, later, Susan and Peter Brink at our home in Galveston, Texas. The Hectors were in Houston attending a fitness conference and meeting with clients of their courier business. The Brinks came for a celebration of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s transformation of Galveston from a laidback beach town to a vibrant preservation showplace under Peter’s diligent 17-year stewardship.

To conclude on a celebratory note: My old roommie, Mike Schaefer, and Heide Breugmann were married in June. We attended the celebration on June 8, along with Karen and Josh Rich. Best wishes and congratulations to the bride and groom!

—David L. Smith, RR4 Box 225B4, Galveston, TX 77554; (775) 870-2354; david@davidlsmith.com

Since our class 50th birthday celebration in Washington, D.C., we have celebrated our birthday year together every five years. We will have a class 80th birthday celebration in San Antonio, Texas, from April 26 to 30, 2020. Features include the Alamo, Riverwalk, Spanish missions, LBJ Ranch, Fredericksburg, and a gala 80th celebration dinner. Details to follow in the class listserv and newsletter. Contact class tripmeister Tom Komarek at tckomarek@aol.com.

This year’s mini-reunion will take place October 4-6. While there is no football game, there are other sporting events, and arrangements will be made for attendees to sit in on a variety of classes Saturday afternoon. We won’t be staying at Dowd’s; instead we’ll each make our own arrangements. A couple of nearby Marriotts are likely choices, among many others. Best to reserve early as you will be competing with a Tuck reunion and leaf-peepers. Friday dinner and Saturday lunch will be at the Paganucci Lounge with your choice of food from the Commons. Saturday dinner is at Jesse’s Restaurant in Hanover. For information call Mike Schaefer (413) 221-7128 or mike@octobercompany.com.

From Ted Beal: “I traveled to Southeast Asia (India, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Singapore) for 30 days in January. My niece, recently appointed the president of Target India, brought her family to visit and I asked to tag along. The spice market and traffic in Delhi were mesmerizing. Meeting villagers in northern India who rarely see people of our skin color was a treasured experience. Kind and hospitable, these people were defined by the generosity of their spirit and not the poverty of their place. Sitting in their one-room home made me wonder if America had lost its way. My niece began in college as a night manager for Target and now manages 3,000 employees in India who provide the technology, analytics, store design, and market analysis for Target America. In an area of the world where women are not as well regarded, she is a shining contrarian.”

Veteran journalist and former UPI CEO (among many other prominent posts) L. Brewster Jackson died recently. Send remembrances to Peter Knight, dartmouth62webmaster@gmail.com.

—David L. Smith, RR4 Box 225B4, Galveston, TX 77554; (775) 870-2354; david@davidlsmith.com

Honoring Dartmouth’s 250th anniversary in 2019, several classmates shared their thoughts about the College. John Clark put it succinctly: “What I love most about Dartmouth is the incredible loyalty it nurtures to the College and one’s classmates.” Among others, Dick Bragaw and Roger Usborne seconded the sentiment, Rog adding “I find it amazing that after 60 years there are so many of us who are close friends.” Among Peter Knight’s fondest memories is the traditional annual Trip to the Sea by canoe initiated by John Ledyard in 1773. The modern tradition began in 1921. Jim Young added: “Peter failed to mention that he is the co-holder (with Jon Fairbanks) of the record set in a nonstop, no-holds-barred race in 1960 of the 220 miles in 33 hours 50 minutes.”

Our peripatetic ex-prez, Alan Rapoport, and Arja traveled through northern Italy and Bordeaux last summer, visiting Mike Howard and Ngila in their “spectacular home in a small French village.” “Great wine” was mentioned. They also visited Arja’s native Finland to celebrate her birthday.

Speaking of wine: While visiting Jim Blair and Wendy in upstate New York, New Jersey neighbor Dan Tompkins and wife Drew Humphries were treated to a 1984 vintage cabernet sauvignon, a 25th-reunion gift from the winery of the late Jay Fritz. Jim reports: “It was indeed remarkable, an extraordinary, well-aged bottle.” Toasts were rendered “to the class of ’62 and the wonderful women who have joined us.” Toujours galant. Hear! Hear!

Mini-reunion co-chairs Mike Schaefer and Irwin Kramer report attendance at this year’s Homecoming mini-reunion totaled 37 classmates of 65 total attendees. Our thanks to Mike’s significant other, Heide Bruegmann, for her tireless contribution to the event.

Sadly, Colin Harley reports the passing of Steve Serlin,M.D., who succumbed to cancer on September 13, 2018. Steve practiced obstetrics and gynecology in the vicinity of Lake George, New York. We also mourn the passing of Mike Bliss of Concord, Massachusetts,on August 31, 2018. For many years Mike practiced law in Massachusetts. Roommate Bob Sprafkin remembers Mike as “an extremely kind and thoughtful person, with a great fund of knowledge.”

—David L. Smith, RR4 Box 225B4, Galveston, TX 77554; (775) 870-2354; david@davidlsmith.com

The bon temps did indeed rouler as 66 classmates, spouses, and friends, “rolled down” the Mighty Mississippi from Memphis, Tennessee, to New Orleans on the paddlewheel steamboat American Queen the last week in April. The adventure began with a party atop the Bass Pro Pyramid in Memphis the night before embarkation, where we were joined by local resident Ed Hirsch. In addition to frequent group gatherings aboard ship, we enjoyed visiting numerous sights, including Elvis’ Graceland and the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis; the 1927 Flood Museum in Greenville, Mississippi; the battlefield at Vicksburg, Mississippi; antebellum mansions in Natchez, Mississippi, and St. Francisville, Louisiana; the state capitol; and the sugar plantation partly owned by Nancy and Dave Pritchard in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The majority of the group extended their stay in New Orleans, where we dined and danced to the tunes of the same Treme Brass Band that helped us celebrate our collective 65th birthday in February 2005. The recent passings of Charlie Giersch and Fred Cook were commemorated with moving eulogies by Pat Giles and Tom Komarek,followed bya lively rendition of “When the Saints Go Marching In.” (See www.bit.ly/2xLtSKz and Al Huck’s excellent class newsletter coverage.) We toured the fabulous World War II Museum for which Phil Cantelon was a consulting historian. Many thanks to our “Rollin’ on the River” organizers, Tom Komarek, Rog Usborne, and Charlie Balch for an unforgettable experience.

We also mourn the recent deaths of Harvard professor and founder and former chairman of Best Doctors Inc. of Newton, Massachusetts, Ken Falchuk, M.D.; college football Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive;and SUNY Plattsburgh distinguished university professor and author Doug Skopp, Ph.D. Obituaries can be found on the class website (1962.dartmouth.org) and DAM website (dartmouthalumnimagazine.com).

Congratulations to the founding principal of Apgar & Co., Sandy Apgar, recipient of the 2018 James Felt Award for Creative Counseling from the Counselors of Real Estate. Sandy’s accomplishments include senior advisor of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, trustee and foundation governor of the Urban Land Institute, and chair emeritus of the South Harbor Renaissance Inc.

—David L. Smith, RR4 Box 225B4, Galveston, TX 77554; (775) 870-2354; david@davidlsmith.com

Sad news.

William “Bill” Baschnagel died December 14, 2017, at home in Etna, New Hampshire, after a long struggle with cancer. He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Fran, children Josh and Siri and their families. Bill majored in engineering and was a member of the DOC, Green Key and Air Force ROTC, later serving in the U.S. Air Force for 20 years. Bill received a master’s in engineering from George Washington University, duly applied to challenging assignments in Vietnam, Thailand and Cape Canaveral, Florida, launching missiles for NASA. Retiring as a lieutenant colonel, Bill and Fran moved to Etna, where Bill was active in business, class and community affairs. We fondly remember Bill and Fran from the class Greek trip and regular attendance at class reunions.

Michael “Mike” Beachley, M.D., died of cardiac disease on January 13 at home in Bakerstown, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Barbara, and children Kenneth, Barbara and William in attendance. He received his A.B. and bachelor’s of medical science from Dartmouth and his M.D. from Harvard. His professional accomplishments included service as a major in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, frequent professional lectures, 10 books and chapters in medical textbooks, 68 published articles in medical journals and service as a professor and chairman of a major academic department in radiology.

George Brannen died December 1, 2017. He was a Phi Delt who came to Dartmouth from Geneva, Illinois (where he returned), and majored in economics. He went on to graduate with a J.D. from Duke, followed by a rewarding career as a “small-town lawyer,” as he put it. He is survived by his wife, Patricia, and stepsons Christopher and Douglas.

Richard Norman died of myeloid leukemia November 29, 2017, at his home in Fairlee, Vermont. He is survived by Muriel, his wife of 57 years, two daughters and a son and their families. Richard transferred to the University of New Hampshire after his freshman year, graduating in 1962 and later earning a master’s from Bowdoin College. He taught high school math for 36 years, mostly at Hanover High School, where he also coached baseball.

—David L. Smith, RR4 Box 225B4, Galveston, TX 77554; (775) 870-2354; david@davidlsmith.com

Thanks to Mike Schaefer, Heide Bruegmann and Irwin Kramer for their superb organization of the annual class mini-reunion during Homecoming week in October, attended by 26 classmates plus spouses. In addition to the traditional parade, pep rally, bonfire, Friday pizza and beer, Saturday tailgate, football (last-seconds victory over Yale, making it 5-0 so far!), many of us attended a moving lecture by President Emeritus Jim Wright on his latest book, Enduring Vietnam. This year’s Class of 1962 Faculty Fellow, Dr. Zenovia Toloudi, assistant professor of architecture, presented her latest work during the formal dinner at Dowds’. Our new president, Barry Alperin, presided over the class meeting, the minutes of which can be found on Peter Knight’s extraordinary class website (1962.dartmouth.org). (See also “Dartmouth Class of 1962” Facebook page.)

Before the mini Peter Knight and Zaida hosted their annual nano-reunion at his Deer Isle, Maine, cabin on Penobscot Sound. In attendance: Bill Carpenter and Donna Gold (who after 27 years of blissful cohabitation finally tied the knot!), Dick and Sue Maynard, my wife, Elizabeth, and myself. Absent: David Laing, recovering from recent surgery.

Passing through Boston on our way to the reunions, Elizabeth and I met Alan and Lisa Dynner for lunch. I’m pleased to report Alan is looking well, continuing his steady and encouraging progress overcoming his health challenges reported in the last issue of Class Notes.

Kudos to Gerald “Jerry” Cohen on the publication of his Origin of Kibosh: Routledge Studies in Etymology. The book treats the expression “put the kibosh on,” whose origin has long been mysterious, and develops and defends the suggestion that it derives from “kurbash” (a fearsome Mideastern whip made of hippopotamus or rhinoceros hide).

Oliver Larmi reports joining a player in“taking a knee,”hand on heart,and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance during the playing of the anthem at recent Penn-Columbia rugby match, where he served as “touch judge.”

Frank Kehl, noted anti-war activist in the 1960s, leads an insightful discussion of the PBS documentary The Vietnam War on the “Great Issues” listserv. Contact Dan Tompkins (pericles@temple.edu) to join this lively forum.

—David L. Smith, RR4 Box 225B4, Galveston, TX 77554; (775) 870-2354; david@davidlsmith.com

Depending on when you read this, class officer nominations for five-year terms are about to be or just were voted on at our 55th reunion. Let’s catch up with the nominees.

Barry Alperin (president) practiced corporate and securities law in New York for 20 years then joined his client, Hasbro, the toy company, as a senior executive and ultimately vice chair, for 11 years. Retiring early, he continues a third career as a director of public and private companies. His many volunteer activities have included senior leadership positions with the Jewish Museum, the American Jewish Committee, a New York City prep school, the toy industry association, Dartmouth’s Tucker Foundation and the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts. Barry has been involved in class fundraising since 1962. He and his wife (of 54 years), Mimi, have two children and five grandchildren.

Gordy Aydelott (vice president) has lived in Katonah, New York, the past 40 years with Judy, his wife of 54 years, whom he met on a blind date Green Key Weekend of our senior year. After Dartmouth, Navy service and two years in business he went to law school. Judy later joined him in a practice specializing in medical malpractice defense work. In 2000 they merged their firm into a larger one and Gordy stepped back from most of his legal work. He did not, however, step back from his involvement in the tennis world, where he competes nationally and captains his Eastern 75 & Over Atlantic Coast Cup team. Active with his church choir and with Rotary, Gordy also has worked with fundraising for the class and the College.

After graduate school at Stanford David Smith (secretary) worked in retail and wholesale investment. Thereafter for 25 years he wrote about economics, finance and geopolitics in subscription newsletters. With Elizabeth Fagan, M.D., his wife of 16 years, David retired to Galveston Island, Texas, in 2015. David and Elizabeth travel quite a bit—to Argentina (his birthplace), Uruguay, England (Elizabeth’s birthplace), Europe, the Balkans, the Caribbean, New Zealand, Australia and, more recently, long road trips across the United States. Asia is next on their bucket list. He continues to pursue a lifelong hobby playing jazz on keyboards with occasional forays into photography and painting.

Ann and Charlie Balch (treasurer) are living in Virginia about 25 miles west of Washington, D.C. They also have a place near the Shenandoah Park where the family gathers and explores “real country.” They have children and grandchildren in Virginia, Oregon and Florida. Charlie is retired from consulting, primarily for banks. He is active with the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club and the Bull Run Civil War Round Table. His interest in local Civil War history has him writing books and working on a DVD. Charlie has been class and reunion treasurer since 1997.

Please google “Moving Dartmouth Forward” and read about President Hanlon’s vision of a Dartmouth living up to its enormous potential.

The mini-reunion is in Hanover October 6-8; details at 1962.dartmouth.org.

—Paul Weinberg, 39 Abbott St., Beverly, MA 01915-5221; (978) 922-4963; pweinmass@aol.com

Our 55th reunion is now very close at hand. Remember that for the first time it is a mid-week Hanover gathering, June 12-15. Our reunion committee is promising a full program of activities balanced with plenty of time for relaxed schmoozing. Weather permitting, our official reunion dinner will take place on the Baker Library lawn with entertainment by the Dartmouth Aires. Plan to join your classmates to renew old friendships, make new ones and catch up on all that our campus has to offer. If for some reason the mailed information has not reached you, details are available also (as are lots of other interesting items) on our website: http://1962.dartmouth.org.

We recently learned of the deaths this past December of John “Jack” Fitzgibbon Jr. of Naples, Florida, and Dwight M. Hayward of Chelmsford, Massachusetts. DAM no longer publishes obituaries in the hard copy magazine but they can be found in the online version. Details also are posted at the “In Memoriam” section of our class website.

After input from many classmates, tripmeisters Tom Komarek and Rog Usborne have selected a Mississippi River Cruise on the American Queen steamboat for our next class trip. It will begin April 22, 2018, with an overnight hotel stay in Memphis, Tennessee, followed by seven days rollin’ down the river to New Orleans. Details on the trip and how to book it will be available at our June reunion, on the class website and in our newsletter.

Jim “Sobie” Abramson writes that he is now fully retired and since 2007 has been living in New York City. Sobie and wife of 50 years, Joan Paley, have three daughters and five grandchildren. After Dartmouth he did a tour of duty in the Army, graduated from Harvard Business School and worked a few years for Colgate Palmolive. He spent the rest of his working years in his own business as an alcohol beverage distributor in Massachusetts. He sold his business in 2001 but stayed with the acquirer for another six years. Currently he does some mentoring for the Baruch Business School, a part of the City University of New York.

Sobie reports he recently read and enjoyed Robert “Chip” Simpson’s Webley .45 and Other Short Stories, a collection of 10 diverse short stories. Chip is a former Marine who served in Vietnam and became a career diplomat. After 50 years these two fraternity brothers and classmates reestablished contact over dinner with their wives and look forward to staying in touch. Hanover in June, perhaps?

At our June reunion the class will elect officers to serve until the next reunion. As called for in our class constitution, president Alan Rapoport appointed a nominating committee to present nominees to the class. Committee members are Josh Rich, Mike Howard, John Walters and Tom Komarek as chairman. The committee has announced that they will nominate Barry Alperin as president, Gordy Aydelott as vice president, David L. Smith as secretary and Charlie Balch to continue as treasurer.

—Paul Weinberg, 39 Abbott St., Beverly, MA 01915-5221; (978) 922-4963; pweinmass@aol.com

John Clark has a new book out, Ray Banta’s War: A Combat Surgeon in World War II China. Drawing on letters, diaries, unit logs and documents from the National Archives, John describes the experience of the (American) portable surgical hospitals in China, specifically the 40th, commanded by Major Raymond E. Banta, U.S. Medical Corps. The book is available on Amazon.

The retirees among us spend time in a variety of ways. Alan Greenbaum retired a couple years ago from his career as a school psychologist. He now splits his time between Connecticut and Arizona, staying active with reading, hiking, swimming and that rapidly growing sport of pickleball. Jay Pierson lives in Hanover. After a career as a certified public accountant he enjoys life in Hanover indulging himself in all manner of “winter stuff.” Living in Etna, New Hampshire, is Jim Varnum. Jim retired 10 years ago as top administrator of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. He successfully oversaw the massively complex 1991 move of the center from Hanover to its new Lebanon, New Hampshire, location. These days he enjoys volunteering with nonprofit organizations. Further north in New Hampshire is Dave Bishop. After a distinguished medical career including being named New Hampshire Family Physician of the Year in 2000 Dave lives in Franconia, staying in shape with tennis, skiing and climbing.

Let’s hear it for those classmates enjoying each other’s company at informal gatherings for lunch or dinner sometimes called micro-reunions. October saw such a micro in Ridgewood, New Jersey. In attendance were Jim Blair, Rusty Hayes, Tyko Kihlstedt, Frank Kehl and Irwin Kramer. Rusty (more formally Dr. Arthur P. Hayes) also was at the October mini-reunion in Hanover. He is a neuro-pathologist in Manhattan and lives in Demerest, New Jersey. He enjoys traveling, recently having toured Switzerland with his granddaughter. Rusty’s wife, Eugenia, is originally from the Philippines and they often travel there and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. As of this writing they were planning a December side trip to Vietnam and Cambodia.

Dick Bragaw, semi-retired from the public relations business he started in 1981, splits his time between a northern Illinois base and a golf community in Sarasota, Florida. He and wife Lenore enjoy the time in Chicagoland with their three sons and their families. Despite the ability to play golf year round now Dick admits it hasn’t much helped his handicap. He is active in church and conservation work. As this is being written he is overjoyed that his Cubs are in the World Series.

We are most fortunate to have dedicated and hardworking tripmeisters. Tom Komarek and Rog Usborne are planning to announce a new class trip at our 55th reunion in June. The trip will occur in the spring of 2018. It will be either a Mississippi River cruise starting or ending in New Orleans or a National Parks tour featuring Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce National parks.

Check out your website: 1962.dartmouth.org. And join us on Facebook at “Dartmouth Class of 1962.”

—Paul Weinberg, 39 Abbott St., Beverly, MA 01915-5221; (978) 922-4963; pweinmass@aol.com

Where did I leave off? My service as your first class secretary and writer of ’62 notes for DAM was rudely interrupted 50 years ago by the military draft and Vietnam. My thanks to all who have served so ably as secretary in the interim, with special thanks to our most recent scribe, Denny Barnes.

Joan and Richard Hannah this past January traveled to Cuba just as the United States started making the island more accessible for American tourists. Richard reports the country is struggling as a result both of its government’s tight grip on the economy as well as the effects of the U.S.-led trade boycott. He does recommend visiting there.

Dave Gundy is now retired from his New Hampshire orthopedic surgery practice but seems as busy as ever. In July he expects (as this is being written) to go skiing in Chile, followed by taking part with Gary Spiess in the Prouty bike race, a fundraiser for cancer research.

This summer Judy and John Wilkinson downsized and made the move to their new home on Ring’s Island, Salisbury, Massachusetts. Certainly lots of others can relate to their experience: “I thought the heavy lifting was over when the move was complete. Turns out there is a lot we have forgotten since our last move, 36 years ago. Especially difficult is having moved much more stuff than we can ever use in this much smaller house.” 

For a special celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary Arja and president Alan Rapoport spent three weeks in Italy visiting some of their favorite places. They spent time in Venice, Negrar near Verona, Stresa on Lago Maggiore, Ravello in the Amalfi Coast and Rome, where they first met in 1965 in a Tavala Calda. (They were engaged the following year at our fifth class reunion. Al proposed at the top of the Bartlett Tower.)

They invited 42 friends and relatives from all over the world, including Finland, Brazil, London and Amsterdam. Thirty-seven of them said yes and attended, including 15 of Arja’s relatives from Finland. Three classmates attended, Elaine and Bernie Jacobs, Mela Behar and Roy Schoen and Mike Howard. There were two parties in Stresa and some continued southward. Al and Arja said it was one of the special events of their lifetimes.

Reminder: Our Hanover mini-reunion is September 30 to October 2 (not the same weekend as Homecoming). It’s always a great time to see old friends and make new ones among our classmates. To check out last-minute availability, contact Irwin Kramer or Mike Schaeffer. If you don’t know how, contact me and I’ll connect you.

Finally, I can make this ’62 column successful only if you join me in partnership. Let me know what you are doing that you’d like to share with your classmates. And please let me hear especially from those of you I don’t know very well or with whom I don’t have much contact.

—Paul Weinberg, 39 Abbott St., Beverly, MA 01915-5221; pweinmass@aol.com

The ranks of our class have incurred new losses. Michael C. Stephen died in New York City on November 25, 2015. He came to Dartmouth from Oakwood High School in Dayton, Ohio. Michael was a member of Bones Gate. Upon graduation he entered the U.S. Army and was stationed in France. His early interest in foreign places and activities was reflected in his later experience in the U.S. State Department and connections with Morgan Guaranty Trust Co. and a number of large banks in the Mediterranean, Philippines and Cambodia. Michael was a first-hand witness to historic crises in numerous times and exotic places. Check out the places where he lived in the period from 1963 to 2012, as listed in his entry for the 50th-year publication of our class. Michael is survived by his daughter, Laura, and his son, Sean, as well as two granddaughters.

The second loss from our class is the death of Robert Stevenson Andrew on January 30 in St. Petersburg, Florida. Bob entered Dartmouth from Manchester, Connecticut. He was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon and DOC. Bob received his degree in economics, as well as his M.B.A. with honors in accounting and finance from Tuck. He joined Exxon Corp. and worked three years in South America on the audit staff. Returning to the United States, Bob held executive financial positions with Eastern Airlines, Xerox Corp. and Pitney Bowes in a 38-year career. He was an avid sailor in competitive events along the East Coast, including more than 25 Stamford to Martha’s Vineyard races and two Newport to Bermuda races. “Captain Bob” is survived by Janet, his wife of 50 years, and daughters Catherine and Caroline, plus two granddaughters.

—Denny Barnes, 17007 Barn Ridge Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20906; (301) 460-4523; dnbarnes62@verizon.net

The class has been informed of the death of Eric O. Berg Jr. at Watkinsville, Georgia, on August 22, 2015. A native of Maine, Eric was a member of Phi Tau, and joined the Marines soon after graduation. Upon discharge from service, he moved to Georgia and took up a career in the electric power industry. Eric is survived by his wife, Jean, sons Eric and Ryan and daughters Ingrid and Signe. He was an avid golfer and devoted to soccer—participating as a coach, player and referee.

A second death among our classmates has been verified by the College in its confirmation of the decease of Patrick H. Gorman III on May 9, 2014. Patrick withdrew from Dartmouth before graduation, and little is known of his time spent in Hanover, save that he joined the Canoe Club and Psi Upsilon. He later graduated from the College of Wooster, Ohio, and earned a graduate degree in anthropology.

The third death recorded by the College in the ranks of ’62 is that of Franklin W. James, who died on March 27, 2014, in South Carolina. Upon graduation Frank became a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy, and retired with the rank of commander. In his post-Navy life Frank was a pastor and a landscaper. He is survived by his son, Jesse James, and daughters Catherine Hogan and Anne Marie Hyer.

The class of ’62 had a substantial number (more than 70) of attendants at the mini-reunion that coincided with the Dartmouth-Yale football game for 2015. Suitable weather, a large audience and a dominating Big Green team all combined to set the tone for a delightful weekend. Mark your calendars without fail to do it again on the weekend of September 30-October 2 for sure.

—Denny Barnes, 17007 Barn Ridge Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20906; (301) 460-4523; dnbarnes62@verizon.net

On May 31 in New York City there occurred the wedding of James C.N. “Jamie” Apgar, youngest child of Anneand Sandy Apgar. The groom’s elder brother, Clayton, was best man and sister Sarah was a bridesmaid. A grand time was enjoyed by all involved in the joyous event, according to reliable sources.

More information of deceased classmates has arrived. Jorge Llacer died in San Jose, California, in August 2014. He is survived by his wife, Marylou Orayani, and his daughter, Lillian ’88. Robert V. Brown Jr.,a former member of Cabin & Trail, died in Bellevue, Washington, on October 4, 2012.

Don S. Samuelson, a resident of Lake Forest, Illinois, died on April 4. He is survived by his wife, Nancy, and sons Christopher and Scott. Don was proud to have been among the ’62 members who joined the first Peace Corps program in the spring of our graduation year.

Richard P. Centracchio passed away on May 13 in Naples, Florida. He did not provide information for the class 25- or 50-year publications. Do classmates have any information about Richard in his post-college years that they wish to share?

—Denny Barnes, 17007 Barn Ridge Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20906; (301) 460-4523; dnbarnes62@verizon.net

Our class benefits from the efforts of the recently installed webmaster, Peter Knight. He has developed a new enhanced website that can be accessed at http://1962.dartmouth.org. It has a number of new features that are described in a link from that home page under “Class Updates” just below the top of the page. He encourages all classmates and their families to visit the site and to consider making contributions as editors of new pages under the “Health and Nutrition” and “The Future” sections and to locate classmates using the “’62 Around the Globe” page under “Classmates.” There are obits for departed classmates alphabetically in the “In Memoriam” pages, also under “Classmates.” If you have access to an obit for someone who lacks one here, please provide it to Peter and he will upload it to the appropriate page. Enjoy and tell your classmates, family and friends about it.


The class has been notified of the death of Arthur “Jay” Fritz Jr. at his home in San Francisco, California on December 30, 2014. He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Barbara, three children and seven grandchildren. Trained as a lawyer, Jay joined his father in the international transportation industry in 1966, concentrating on services to customs brokers and freight forwarders. Jay became a leading figure in his line of work before his retirement in 1988. He was generous with his time and energy, doing many good works in his city and church.


If you did not carefully read The Wall Street Journal dated January 27, you missed an interesting and pertinent article on page one. The story described the travails of serving as secretary to Dartmouth’s class of 1935, of which only Edward Gerson (the secretary) and three other classmates are the last survivors. All classes move inexorably from the back pages of DAM toward the position now held by ’35: the oldest Dartmouth class extant. Someday ’62 will occupy that niche but, in the meantime, there are many publication deadlines still to be met. To quote Mr. Gerson: “The Lord will provide the obits, but the news of your lives has to come from you.” Take heed, and act accordingly.


—Denny Barnes, 17007 Barn Ridge Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20906; (301) 460-4523; dnbarnes62@verizon.net


Time marches on. It has recently become known that Mike Slive will retire as commissioner of the Southeastern Conference of the NCAA this coming summer, after 12 years leading the league. He was among the earliest leaders to lobby publicly for structural and rules reform that produced recent major changes in college football competition. He has been a strong voice for improved safety in football. Mike is contending with a recurrent health problem and ’62 sends its best wishes for his full recovery.


Our mini-reunion in 2014 coincided with the October Homecoming Weekend. Numerous classmates, spouses, friends and companions attended events that strengthened the good vibes of the occasion. The arrangements were well handled by Mike Schaefer and his capable crew. Even the weather cooperated. Let’s do it all over again next year!


John Buckner attended the mini-reunion. He earlier provided this update on his recent doings. A medical doctor resident in Ossining, New York, John reported: “I am alive and kicking. I am still doing a part-time office practice. I started my 70th year by rowing a full marathon on a Concept 2 machine (thanks to rowing in my freshman year) and I expect to do one during my 75th year coming up.” His youngest son lives and works in Australia; his older son is in California and “does sound” for the Hollywood Bowl and the opera house. John closed by saying, “I feel very grateful for my Dartmouth experience and Al Houser was one of the persons who befriended me early on.”


Richard Hannah provided this report on the September 4, 2014, gathering of ’62s at the memorial service for Tom Cutter in Wakefield, Massachusetts. Attending classmates were Jeff Brown, Paul Weinberg, John Walters, Mike Bliss, Bob Needham, Tom Brooks, Bob Sprafkin and Gordy McKean with his wife, Pat. Richard remarked, “It was a lovely service in a magnificent church that reminded some of us of a large Rollins Chapel.” Later a large group of family and friends gathered for lunch. “It was described as a bereavement gathering but the stories about Tom’s big smile, welcoming persona and colorful escapades at the Dartmouth table weren’t tearful. The officiating cleric came over to cheerily greet us. ‘This must be the Dartmouth table,’ he said.” It was a mournful September day, “but it turned out to be a poignant gathering of old and new friends—gathering, reminiscing and sharing—bonded by our years together a long time ago at Dartmouth. Not a bad sendoff for a friend and classmate, Charles Tom Cutter.”


In closing, a note from Steve Reid: “Planned gifts to Dartmouth affiliated graduate schools—Tuck, Thayer and the Medical School (Geisel)—all earn membership in the Bartlett Tower Society.”


—Denny Barnes, 17007 Barn Ridge Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20906; (301) 460-4523; dnbarnes62@verizon.net


The College has confirmed that Nitya Pibulsonggram died in Bangkok, Thailand, in May at the age of 72. He was a retired career diplomat and former foreign minister of Thailand. “Nid” also served as the Thai ambassador to the United States between 1984 and 2000, and later became Thailand’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations. Nid is survived by his widow, Patricia. He was serving as a member of the Dickey Center board of visitors at the time of his death.


Our classmate Byron Percy Magness died in June. Percy was a prominent lawyer in Memphis, Tennessee, and a man of many interests and hobbies. These included sailing and wooden boats, grape growing and wine making, fishing and bird hunting, travel and his beloved Arkansas farm. Percy is survived by his widow, Perre, son Lon and daughter Perre.


And now a final death-of-classmate notice for this column, albeit one written in advance of official notification from the College. Allen Houser died on May 29 in Washington, D.C. He was leader and trumpeter of the campus band Modern Men during our four years in Hanover. Al had a life-long passion for jazz and was widely recognized as a talented horn player. His wife, Karen, will host an Allen Houser Memorial Jazz Open House on October 29 at Bertha’s, the place in Fells Point, Baltimore, where his sextet played for nearly 11 years. That will be a fitting salute to our talented classmate. Contact Charlie Balch for details about this event.


—Denny Barnes, 17007 Barn Ridge Drive, Silver Spring, MD; (301) 460-4523; dnbarnes62@verizon.net


Our class evidently harbors some previously unsuspected and late-blooming writers of books involving Dartmouth in ways that are factual, fictional or otherwise. The September/October issue of this column noted the recent publication of some undergraduate adventures by one of our brethren and we were glad to circulate notice of the event. Thereafter, we received further evidence of our class proclivity to write, even to commit outright fiction. David Laing disclosed that he has written and published “a very Dartmouth-related novel, Eustacia’s Secret: A Love Story,” which is “enjoying respectable sales as an e-book on Amazon.com.” In the absence of a review copy we refrain from comment on the merits of the book, but curious readers can consult David at his address as shown in the current “Alumni Today” directory or by interrogation of the above-mentioned website.
A late bulletin from a ’62 field correspondent was received just as this column was being put to bed. John Clark attended the class mini-reunion in Hanover during October. He reported attending a lecture on medication overuse for headaches presented by Al Rapoport at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center before the partying began. John said he “understood most of the lecture because of Al’s clear and thoughtful presentation.” Our president was obviously in good form that day because he “even correctly predicted Dartmouth would beat Yale.” Talk about expertise!
The College office of alumni records has circulated notice of the death in February 2013 of ’62 classmate Dave Haist. He was a resident of the state of Georgia.
—Denny Barnes, 17007 Barn Ridge Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20906; (301) 460-4523; dnbarnes62@verizon.net



Homecoming 2009 brought a large and stalwart group of classmates back to Hanover. Rain threatened the Friday night parade and on Saturday fell with bone-chilling intensity, prompting some to enjoy the game on the radio, or in front of the fire at Dowds’ Country Inn with a hot cup of tea and a scone. The younger, tougher—and much colder and wetter—Big Green players braved the elements and broke their long losing streak with a substantial win over Columbia. They were no doubt inspired at the pep rally the night before by President Jim Yong Kim’s pledge to sprint around the bonfire with the freshmen. Students were jubilant, spirits undampened.


With the arrival of Dartmouth’s new president comes renewed vitality and commitment. Phil Cantelon writes, “I attended the inauguration of President Kim as a representative of the American University of Rome (I’m a trustee of the university). I marched in the academic procession and by luck I had a chair on the middle aisle right below the dais. It was a marvelous ceremony, replete with Native American and Korean performance groups and singing as well, including Kim’s sister. I’ve attended a number of presidential inaugurations in the past, but none matched this one for liveliness and ceremony without the pomp. It seems to me that our new president has brought a fresh energy to the campus, particularly in his reaching out to the undergraduates, most specifically the class of 2013. There was an electricity on campus regarding Kim and the potential of his presidency that I’ve not seen anywhere before, though it may have been similar for John Kemeny, someone else from outside the usual Ivy League mold.


“Pete Lothes and I attended a marvelous panel discussion on leadership for social change the afternoon before the inauguration. I thought Paul Farmer, Kim’s colleague in Partners in Health, Michael Porter of the Harvard Business School, Ed Haldeman ’70 and Jeff Immelt ’78 of GE were excellent. Ruth Simmons, the president of Brown, was also good, though I thought her talk on being a president at the inauguration ceremony trumped her panel contribution. What Kim has done is blend idealism with solid business strategy and sense to create a more robust model, at least in my opinion, for social change. His challenge to the undergraduates and especially the freshmen was to embrace those values and take a systematic approach to working toward desired outcomes. Now he will need to bring the College’s faculty and staff and alumni along. From speaking with a few undergraduates, he certainly has their attention. Immelt says that he is doing the same thing at GE in identifying and preparing the next generation of business leaders. It will be interesting to see if both tracks can be successful. The honeymoon has risen in Hanover.”


Looking toward our 50th reunion yearbook, president Gordy McKean wryly reminds us: “Now write your biography that makes you tick, lest someone less knowledgeable writes your obituary and it is too late to be ticked.”


—Jim Haines, 307 Sewickley Ridge Drive, Sewickley, PA 15143; (412) 741-9088; jbhaines@comcast.net


Not long after winning the hearts and minds of students and alumni by running around the Homecoming bonfire with the freshmen class last October President Jim Yong Kim ran into his first encounter with the dark side of Dartmouth tradition—the Animal House mythology—that still occasionally rears its ugly head. Hooligan behavior by a group of students at a squash game with Harvard reached national media attention, generated much discussion on our class listserv and even inspired a number of letters to this particular column from troubled classmates. Sumner Kabler lamented that, “Once again I am disappointed and embarrassed for my alma mater. My own work associates, who delight in calling to my attention any negative news about Dartmouth, will surely use this incident as fodder for their barbs about our college breeding Indians who sit and bang their heads against pine trees.”


Richard Hannah, Frank Kehl and others echoed these concerns. Ted Beal captured the sentiment of many: “I think the newsworthy part of all this commentary on Dartmouth mores and behavior is that so many of our classmates are willing to speak out and take positions on issues that were tacitly overlooked when we were undergraduates. ‘Boys will be boys’ is not really seen as socially sanctioned behavior now.” President Kim has since made public apology to Harvard and committed to using the squash incident as a “teachable moment” that engages all students to re-examine their personal conduct and values. We can hope that positive change will follow.


On a more upbeat note Sandy Apgar reports, “I was honored to attend a surprise reception and dinner this evening in Washington, D.C., for Peter Brink, who is retiring from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, where he has been senior vice president for programs. Host Richard Moe, the National Trust’s president, called Peter ‘the most consequential preservationist of the last 20 years.’ Surrounded by more than 100 friends and colleagues who offered toasts and roasts, Peter capped the memorable evening with reminiscences from Washington, Galveston, Texas, and places beyond. I was privileged to work with Peter on the Army Historic Properties Initiative.” Sandy adds that Peter and his wife are moving to Norwich, Vermont, “so we’ll have another venue for our mini-reunion parties!”


Ol’ Sundance, our former secretary, reports that Paul Weinberg started a luncheon club in Massachusetts called North Shore Men Our Age (NOSHMOA).


Charter members also include Allan Weeks, who practices law in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and Bill McDonald, who practices law in Beverly. John Wilkinson, formerly a human resources man who is now retired and living in Newbury, Massachusetts, rode to lunch on a classic Indian motorcycle. One wonders whether the Indian was green and whether a motorcycle will become the new NOSHMOA mascot!


Bill Nevin, in the Arizona desert, prefers to ride a non-motorized bicycle. Still practicing medicine in Tucson, he often finds time to slip away to visit his son on Coronado Island near San Diego, California, which he finds to be excellent cycling country.


—Jim Haines, 307 Sewickley Ridge Drive, Sewickley, PA 15143;(412) 741-9088; jbhaines@comcast.net


In his new novel, South of Broad, Pat Conroy says of his hometown, Charleston, South Carolina: “I consider it a high privilege to be a native of one of the loveliest American cities. It is a rapturous, defining place to grow up.” He praises its “high tolerance for eccentricity and bemusement [and affirms] its gentility that comes from the knowledge that Charleston is a permanent dimple in the understated skyline, while the rest of us are only visitors.” What better place then for a bunch of bemused, gentrified, eccentric ’62s to come for a celebratory 70th birthday reunion? Besides, it’s sunny and warm, the food is good and the livin’ is easy.


Thanks to Tripmeister Komarek’s meticulous planning, more than 70 classmates plus spouses and guests made the Low Country pilgrimage during the first week of May. Most of the Greek trippers signed on, as did Ingrid and Denny Barnes, Lenore and Dick Bragaw, Jane and Gill Butler, Robbi Cox, Pat Giles, Hanneke and Wouter Goedkoop, Penny and Bill Obenshain, Susan and Marsh Potterton, Debbie and Mike Rouzee, Mella Behar and Roy Schoen, Dave deWilde, Jane and Bill Whaley, Liz and Rog Usborne and Patti and Bill Sadd, who came by RV from Fredericksburg, Texas, “Spider” and “the Magpie,” who resurfaced from the distant past and led a late-night pub crawl to The Blind Tiger. All of these pilgrims and many more followed their GPS, map or compass to Charleston in search of “the good life.” And Polly and Thad Seymour were there too, honoring us once again with their presence and gifting us with Polly’s charm and Thad’s inimitable stories.


Some classmates, such as Roy Halstead and wife Gabriele, made Charleston an ultimate destination via a rather lengthy and circuitous route. In February Roy and Gabriele bumped into John Walters, who was celebrating early with a 70th birthday weekend on the slopes at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. There, too, Roy connected with Marty Quadland, who offered him lodging and hospitality in his beautiful new home and promised to come back to the 50th. But Roy’s travels were just beginning. “I continued from Jackson Hole,” he says, “through the United States to finally meet up with my son Ted ’90 in the Galapagos on March 19, then across the Pacific by catamaran to the Marquesas in French Polynesia, then from Tahiti by air back to Brussels and then on to Charleston for the reunion.” Roy’s quest was Big Green commitment writ large—a journey that would make Odysseus weep and Pat Conroy smile.


Postscript: Congratulations go out to George Beller, who has received the Distinguished Scientist Award from the American College of Cardiology for his pioneering research in the field of cardiac imaging. George is currently professor of cardiology at the University of Virginia Health System. He has served as chairman of the division of cardiovascular medicine for 28 years and is a past president of the American College of Cardiology.


And kudos as well go to Sandy Apgar, who has been appointed to the U.S. Department of State’s advisory committee on international economic policy.


—Jim Haines, 307 Sewickley Ridge Drive, Sewickley, PA 15143; (412) 741-9088; jbhaines@comcast.net


Marsh Potterton writes, “I just finished reading the Charleston, South Carolina, newsletter, cover to cover. All I saw were compliments for Tom, Charlie and Thad. And even Your Worthlessness. Not a word about Al Huck, who brought those wonderful words and pictures to us all. As I read the comments of my classmates, I could feel the fellowship and love fly off the pages. What a nice souvenir from a wonderful event. Without Al, it wouldn’t have happened.”


So true, Spider, and furthermore Al has generously shared with your grateful secretary information gleaned from the Green Cards that, due to word limitations, he was unable to include in his newsletter. So, Huck, this column is for you—with thanks.


Ross Burkhardt reports that he traveled to Egypt and Petra in April, and adds that he was sorry he missed the other ’62s who were there about the same time. Ross is working on a new book about eighth-graders and says he is looking forward to our 50th: “I’ve begun work on a reunion media project that spans 50 incredible years.” Ross’s presentation will be a must-see for all ’62s.


Day Mount writes, “As we approach 2012 the class motto might be ‘carpe diem’ or ‘do it while you can.’ Kathie and I are traveling often. We visited Big Bend National Park in March and in April are off to Spain, Portugal and France. We volunteer in between, bike, ballroom dance, enjoy family and friends and feel very fortunate.”


Jim Owings tells of the serendipitous discovery that he lives less than two miles from Sandy Apgar in Ruxton, Maryland. Jim says that Sandy hosted a Christmas party for Dartmouth grads last December—mean age of attendees: 27—at which the Dartmouth choir gave an inspired performance and everyone had a great time.


Tony Wolfe keeps very busy in Miami as chief of plastic surgery at Miami Children’s Hospital, where he actively performs cranial facial surgery and his wife specializes in breast reconstruction. Tony adds, “Thank goodness for our nannies to look after our six kids, ages 4.5 to 15.”


Manuel Buchwald has retired from medicine after 35 years as a research scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children and at the University of Toronto in Canada. “Once free of encumbrances I started to write,” he says, “first a memoir and now fiction. I have two or three novels in mind that I’m putting on paper, one by one. It is very satisfying work.”


Bill Roth is also involved in writing and healthcare. Currently a professor at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, where he teaches courses in strategic planning and management theory, Bill has just published Comprehensive Healthcare for the U.S.: An Idealized Model (Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press, 2010). Bill writes that the purpose of the book is “to design an ‘idealized’ universal healthcare system for the United States that ensures every citizen access to adequate treatment in the most cost-effective manner possible”—a timely and ambitious undertaking for our time.


—Jim Haines, 307 Sewickley Ridge Drive, Sewickley, PA 15143;(412) 741-9088; jbhaines@comcast.net


Our classmate John Robertson “Robbi” Cox died in late November 2013 in Pennsylvania. Following graduation he became an architect based in Philadelphia and active in numerous contiguous states, all the while earning a high reputation for his work. Robbi was also an avid golfer who had the good fortune to be engaged by numerous famous golf clubs to improve and expand their facilities. Certainly, he was happy in his work. Check the front-page photo of Robbi, in attendance at the immediate-past mini-reunion that appears in the December 2013 issue of the class newsletter. Robbi is survived by his wife, Meredith, and children Cameron and Drew.


—Denny Barnes, 17007 Barn Ridge Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20906; (301) 460-4523; dnbarnes62@verizon.net


Have you ever felt the urge to visit faraway places, lands populated by starkly foreign peoples, to experience firsthand the thrill of new (to you, at least) events? More particularly, have you ever acted upon such an urge, and in the process circumnavigated the world in the compact space of the time between end-of-junior-year final exams and the start of senior year? It can be done, and Bill Roth has published a memoir of that now-distant time when he made such a trip. Bill confided only in Dean Thad, and with a friend from Harvard departed to hitchhike around the world “in search of a mystery lady.”


Many “interesting adventures” ensued and have been recorded by Bill and his friend in I Can’t Believe We’re Still Alive. The purpose of the book is to record their adventures, thereby proving to the authors and their progeny that “the tales we have been telling are actually true.” And, yes, they did find the mystery lady as well as return to campus in time to start senior year. Interested classmates can obtain access to this self-published memoir by contacting Bill using the address data provided for him in the current Alumni Today directory. You should find it to be an engaging read.


Sandy Apgar continues to do good works for the public-private partnerships that benefit and improve diverse segments of our population. Lately he has worked with leading Maryland state officials to increase the use of these partnerships in the nation’s capital area involving infrastructures and public services. Keep it up, Sandy. The politicians need all the help they can get from available experts of every sort.


The College office of alumni records has circulated notice of the death, late last year, of ’62 classmate Samuel B. Ulrich at his home in Vermont.


—Denny Barnes, 17007 Barn Ridge Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20906; (301) 460-4523; dnbarnes62@verizon.net


Summer is almost over and it’s time to start thinking about our fall mini-reunion. The class has once again booked Dowds’ Country Inn in Lyme, New Hampshire, for the weekend of October 21-23. Woody Chittick and Mike Schaefer are planning another enjoyable get-together, with details soon forthcoming.


In addition, we look forward to our 50th reunion in June. Bill Pierce and Dick Brooks have sent the following clarification of dates: “The official College date is June 8-10, Friday through Sunday, 2012. Major events include a class dinner on Friday night, Saturday lunch with President Kim and the board of trustees, Saturday night ‘formal’ class of 1962 dinner, Sunday morning procession with the class of 2012 and graduation. We will have an informal dinner on Sunday night and then will have class and College programs and athletics on Monday and Tuesday, June 11-12. College rooms will be available for the additional two-day extension and we will advise you in due course regarding reservations for those rooms.” Stay tuned.


Kent Hutchinson sends a final reminder: “The closing date for the 50th reunion book is upon us. If you haven’t at least filled out the questionnaire, please go to the weblink: www.dartmouth.org/classes/62/Questionnaire.htm now and make sure we have heard from you. The book will be a great preparation aid for all classmates prior to our reunion next June.” Rog Usborne urgently points out that the class of 1961 has just raised the bar on such endeavors. This from their last class column: “Our book may rank as the best 50th Dartmouth alumni reunion book of all time, certainly among the top three.” As Rog says, we ’62s have work to do but we’ve never shied away from a challenge.


In the spirit of keeping in touch and bringing things up to date, Bob Sprafkin writes, “It’d been a while since I submitted anything to the Alumni Magazine, so I thought that it’s about time. It’s been an eventful year for me thus far. In December I retired after 42 years as a psychologist in Syracuse: at Syracuse University, the Veterans Administration Hospital and SUNY Upstate Medical University. In May I got married in Sonoma, California, to Martha Copithorne, a retired marital court judge from Plymouth and Ossipee, New Hampshire. We were surrounded by our children, their spouses, and our grandchildren, which made everything perfect. We’re in the process of relocating to Ossipee in the summer and then off to Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the fall. Lots of changes, but clearly a new start! Looking forward to being a New Hampshire resident for part of the year and to returning to my roots in Philadelphia.”


Finally, Sandy Apgar sends word of a forward-thinking opinion piece he recently published in the May-June 2011 issue of Urban Land: “Real Estate Firms of the Future—Today.” Sandy distills “five attributes that high performers are incorporating in their strategies, structures and systems” that he believes will define the real estate firm of the future.


We love hearing from people. Please send news.


—Jim Haines, 307 Sewickley Ridge Drive, Sewickley, PA 15143; (412) 741-9088; jbhaines@comcast.net


On a brisk, sunny coming-of-fall day in upper Michigan rumors of an assault on the Eastern Seaboard by Hurricane Irene filter through to my retreat in the north woods together with an actual communiqué from my predecessor, Richard Hannah, providing fascinating news about two of our classmates and reminding me of the larger world out there to which I must inevitably return with summer’s end. Although I am only 35 miles from Canada, today I am sharing news from Israel and Latin America.


Jon Gershovitz reports from his home in Mercaz Shapira, Israel, that he is “working, retired and safe.” As an undergraduate Jon hailed from Larchmont, New York, majored in psychology at Dartmouth and subsequently got an M.S. in social work. “I have been practicing since 1964,” he writes. For 12 years prior to retirement in 2006 he worked at an old-age home with 70 sheltered living apartments and 30 nursing beds. As a founder of the facility he was instrumental in defining the social work role from the start and “had the opportunity of encouraging people to think about and tell their life stories, to become active in their new community and to help the rest of the staff understand some of the more unpleasant or weird behavior of our oldies.” In retirement Jon continues his social work about five hours a week at a 14-bed nursing home at a moshav (town) about five minutes from his house. He adds, “I am the oldest member of my staff and considered eminently wise by my colleagues. I do the best I can not to disabuse them of their opinion.” Jon is also a writer and translator. His current and most challenging project is translating from Hebrew into English his wife Yehudith Bar-Yesha’s recently published book on Hasidic stories. With regard to personal safety, Jon admits he has lived through some very scary times (especially the suicide bombings of 1995 through 2004) but says that thanks to improved security measures and a variety of other factors “things are much, much more peaceful than they have been for years.”


Bill Wolfe, an undergraduate economics major from Eastchester, New York, and a Tuck M.B.A., now lives with his wife, Jan, in Chittenden, Vermont. A former Peace Corps volunteer, Bill has devoted much of his time recently to helping others abroad, most specifically children with serious medical issues from Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and other Latin American countries. In 2002, Bill formed the American Amistad Foundation, which he initially financed with his own funds and later with donations received from individuals, service clubs and churches. He gives freely of his time and talent and spends more than 100 days each year in Guatemala helping to purchase or find donated prosthetics, wheelchairs and walkers, medical supplies, medicines, clothing, shoes, school supplies and toys for children in need. Bill was twice recognized, in 2004 and again in 2007, with a Volvo for Life Top 100 Heroes Award for his international humanitarian efforts.


Two wonderful stories! Be sure to come back to our 50th reunion next June and share your own life story with old friends and classmates.


—Jim Haines, 307 Sewickley Ridge Drive, Sewickley, PA 15143;(412) 741-9088; jbhaines@comcast.net


Greetings, fellow ’62s. Devoted readers of this space will have seen the fair notice from Jim Haines in the last issue that he was engaging the services of a co-secretary to aid in the production of Class Notes. Hence, this is my initial appearance in that capacity. Jim has given me much encouragement and many helpful suggestions gleaned from his five years of valuable service to our class. More than simple exhortation, Jim has provided me with the latest nuggets of information from and about some of our classmates so that my first column will not be totally content-free.


Frank Kehl reports his increasing resemblance to the Bionic Man. He now sports an implanted loop monitor the size of a flash drive under the skin of the left chest to constantly monitor the heart rhythm. Once a month he transmits the accumulated data to his doctor from the loop monitor via a device that jacks into his home phone landline. Does this thing get through airport security? Frank and his wife, Dorothy, are active in the English teacher training program that involves support of primary, middle and high school English teachers in southeast China. This past summer they helped train 120 English teachers, a new record for the program funded by a foundation based in Hong Kong.


Oli Larmi has deep roots in his farm in Bloomsburg, a charming and scenic part of central Pennsylvania. But these roots don’t hinder Oli’s travels to warmer places in the winter season. In Guadalajara, Mexico, this past January he took in “Orozco’s best murals, [reputedly] the highest artwork [produced] in our hemisphere.” He bragged to his companions “I studied under [Orozco]…in the basement of Baker Library, of course.” The benefits of a liberal arts education are manifold, as Oli knows well.


The approach of our 50th reunion is reaching high gear. Many of us have made plans, obtained bookings for travel and accommodations to ensure attendance at the big event. Now is the time to reach out to our classmates to encourage their presence at this celebration, even the ones who may be reluctant. My wife and I will be in Hanover for the entire period and staying in one of the dorms dedicated for our class. We have attended all of the five-year gatherings, except for 1967, when the Army intervened. You can participate in as many (or as few) activities as you wish, guided only by your own lights. I enjoyed all of my four student years in Hanover. I have many good memories of that place and time and they always attract me to return when the chance offers. If you are ever going to visit Hanover again, the 50th reunion would be the time to do it, with the added bonus of encountering old friends and perhaps making some new ones as well.


—Denny Barnes, 4312 Bretton Road, Rockville, MD 20853; (301) 460-4523; dnbarnes62@ verizon.net; Jim Haines, 307 Sewickley Ridge Drive, Sewickley, PA 15143; (412) 741-9088; jbhaines@comcast.net


Stand by for more news from our class. Craig Dorman and wife Cynthia have resumed residence in Fairbanks, Alaska, after a typically well-traveled year in 2012. They drove vast distances (more than 16,000 miles) to attend our 50th reunion in Hanover; to check out the status of many national monuments and parks on the way to their (other) home in Arlington, Virginia; and to participate in the 48th reunion of Craig’s UDT/SEAL Class 32 in San Diego. Along the way back to the Far North, Craig and Cynthia also found time, on a road just south of the Canadian border, to celebrate their 50th marriage anniversary. They will spend the winter months busily braiding rugs, sewing, weaving intricate baskets and planning more trips for when the cold retreats. The Dormouse never hibernates.


Doug Skopp successfully followed an academic career as a historian. Now he is the State University of New York at Plattsburg Distinguished University Teaching Professor of History emeritus and college historian. The college has honored Doug and his wife, Evelyne, by dedicating its Holocaust Memorial Gallery to them. Concurrent with this event there was created an endowment fund to support an annual competition that challenges students in all disciplines to submit original works that commemorate the historic tragedy. Doug and Evelyne are justifiably proud of this recognition.


A bulletin has been received from Irwin Kramer establishing that spirited ’62s in northern New Jersey remain undaunted in their efforts to maintain social contact with classmates despite adverse conditions. Eight of our classmates tried to dine together on Election Night this past November, in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, but only Irwin, John Clark and Rusty Hayes were able to make the event. This “group of eight” has an interest in gathering from time to time in good fellowship among ’62s in the area. Another such meeting in early 2013 is under consideration. Be sure to respond when Irwin calls; better yet, take the initiative and call Irwin first.


—Denny Barnes, 17007 Barn Ridge Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20906; (301) 460-4523; dnbarnes62@verizon.net


Almost half a century ago most of us sat in Dartmouth Hall listening to Robert Frost read from the first edition of his last book, In the Clearing: “It’s right in there/Betwixt and between/The orchard bare/And the orchard green….” With shovel-ready hands clutching the podium, Frost sonorously recited a coming-of-spring poem called “Peril of Hope.” He made four spontaneous revisions as he went along, re-seeing the poem as he read. He made small changes, just a word here and there, attempting to realize more vividly, and reflect upon, the tenuous nature of seasonal change. “For there’s not a clime,” he concluded, “But at all that cost/Will seize that time/For a night of frost.” The poet may have been punning on his own last name. But he also anticipated our collective perilous hope so many years later—the hope, among other things, that we might all make it back to Hanover safe and sound for our 50th reunion in 2012.


As Al Huck has already telegraphed in the ’62 newsletter, Dick Brooks and Bill Pierce are working diligently, making preparations for our reunion next year on June 8-10, 2012. That’s right! It’s only a little more than a year from now. Bill Baschnagel has been establishing a ’62 bond with the graduating class of 2012—our surrogate brethren some 50 years younger—and reunion committees are cranking up to full tilt. You have probably recently received a letter from the 50th reunion book committee, headed by Carl Jaeger, Gordy Aydelott, Dick Bragaw and Kent Hutchinson, soliciting personal reflections and biographical input. Our own personal stories, combined with class artist Bob Aiken’s celebratory rendering of the ’62 Dartmouth experience and Ross Burkhardt’s eagerly anticipated DVD presentation of “the orchard green” (so to speak), will graphically validate our class slogan: “Dartmouth 1962: Green and Still Proud of It.” As for keeping the orchard green financially, John Clark and John Walters will lead the fundraising initiative for our gift to the class of 1962 writing and rhetoric program. So let’s all plan, and hope, however audaciously, to be there for our last big reunion, the greenest and the best.


In the meantime, life goes on and folks keep active. A wonderful note arrived from Barbara and Chuck Preuss, confirming the Huckster’s contention that “life is good.” Barbara writes: “We still continue to see Jan and Phil Meyer on a regular basis, as they live close by. Last year they rented their home in Los Altos, California, for a year and spent the summer and fall in Quechee, Vermont, the winter in a rented condo in San Francisco and the spring and early summer in Italy.” Barbara and Chuck visited the Meyers for two weeks in Italy, one week in a rented farm house and another in a hill-town palazzo, where Chuck, an avid cyclist, was able to watch the Giro d’Italia and Phil to secure a cameo appearance in La Boheme and “flirt with Musetta as she sang her famous aria to make Marcello jealous.” Life is good indeed!


—Jim Haines, 307 Sewickley Ridge Drive, Sewickley, PA 15143; (412) 741-9088; jbhaines@comcast.net


When I first took on the role of class secretary some five or six years ago my predecessor, Richard Hannah (also known at the time as “Sundance”), informed me that the job came with “the gift of prophecy for all things green.” As I now approach the end of my term and we stand as a class on the brink of our 50th reunion, I feel strangely prescient. Even though it is only April when I write this, I can safely report that our June reunion was a huge success. Bill Pierce and Dick Brooks did an ace’s job of putting together an event to remember, even as managing editor Kent Hutchinson and his stalwart team of tireless scriveners superbly prepped us for the occasion with a magnificent 573-page keepsake reunion book, ’Round the Girdled We Roamed, the accolades and testimonials for which are still rolling in. Prophetic powers notwithstanding, I’ll leave the reunion details to my successor and focus instead on the book itself that most recently made its way to my doorstep.


The gradual reveal of what Frank Kehl so aptly christened “the mother of all coffee-table books,” arriving as it did in irregularly timed batches across the country, contributed to a flurry of angst and eager anticipation among our online community of constantly in-touch classmates. Frank posted an early partial synopsis of content that David Smith, in turn, deemed a “titillating hors d’oeuvre” to the main course—“a fitting and masterful summation of the legacy of the great class of 1962.” Dick Maynard similarly praised the book as an “impressive feat” and “a great addition to our coffee tables.”


But the most effusive praise came from Ros “Bunny” Whedbee, who emoted loud and long: “I, who am never at a loss for superlatives of a hyperbolic nature, am simply speechless at our yearbook! The only word to adequately describe the gargantuan effort that produced this noble manuscript is ‘stupendous.’ Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!—to every staff member, assistant, wife, significant other or anybody else involved with or connected to or supportive of this massive enterprise and undertaking!” The intensity of praise reached such a crescendo that Paul Weinberg, one of the last to receive his copy of the book, cried out like the proverbial voice in the wilderness: “The ‘titillating hors d’oeuvre’ has me waiting impatiently to dig into the rest of the meal. May I assume that the books are being sent out in batches over time? Or am I the only one who has not yet received his?”


The story, as I foretold you, has a happy ending. The reunion book had a great rollout, to the eventual delight of all. And the reunion itself could not have been better. Magically, for a few golden days, we reconnected with our friends and our youth. It has been a joy and a privilege to act as your class scribe during these past few years and to help record, however briefly, some fleeting moments that have gone by much too quickly. Thanks for the memories.


—Jim Haines, 307 Sewickley Ridge Drive, Sewickley, PA 15143; (412) 741-9088; jbhaines@comcast.net; Denny Barnes, 4312 Bretton Road, Rockville, MD 20853; (301) 460-4523; dnbarnes62@ verizon.net 


The roster of past secretaries of our class is both lengthy and distinguished, reflective of the 50 years since our graduation. In that timespan the post has been held by eight scribes, excluding the incumbent. The average term of office has been four to six years, but two stalwarts each served an entire decade in harness. The principal duty of every class secretary is to produce the (now bimonthly) news columns that adorn the Class Notes portion of Dartmouth Alumni Magazine. These columns inform and edify the classmates who read them to learn who is doing what to whom and where they are doing it.


The function of class secretary is, all things considered, both pleasant to the holder of the office and useful to the class at large. The job, however, comes with a certain amount of baggage, chief of which is the inexorable approach of the deadline for the filing of material for the next issue of DAM. Whatever else may be confronting the scribe (filing of tax returns, foreclosure of mortgages, etc.) the column must be published at the appointed time. Let us record here the names of our classmates who have kept the promise of timely ’62s Class Notes: Paul Weinberg 1962-67; Artie Hoover 1967-77; Richard Gordon 1977-82; Jack Fitzgibbon 1982-87; Charlie Giersch 1987-93; Gordy McKean 1993-97; Richard Hannah 1997-2007; and Jim Haines 2007-12.


We are reliably informed that at least 20 ’62s and assorted companions convened in Hanover for a mini-reunion October 12 through 14. Class officers in attendance were president Al Rapoport, vice president Richard Hannah, treasurer Charlie Balch and Alumni Council rep Gene Gasbarro. Another attendee was Tom Komarek, ’62’s own class tripmeister. Tom has completed the arrangements for the Prague/Blue Danube class trip in the period July 11 to 23. His travel events are justly famous for their great activities and superior accommodations. Contact Tom at tckomarek@aol.com. He says this will be his last overseas trip, so it’s sure to be a sellout.


—Denny Barnes, 17007 Barn Ridge Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20906; (301) 460-4523; dnbarnes62 @verizon.net