Class Notes 1975

So my musings about our move to Florida struck paydirt. Al Markman does indeed reside here and opted to give me a call. He and Wendy are doing well in the Naples area. I understand he has been known to play a round of golf now and again. I always thought of Al as one of those burly, forest-dwelling men and I was pleased to learn that he still makes the trek to the family cabin in northern Minnesota periodically.

I was also pleasantly surprised to learn that Kevin Kelley and his wife, Ann, are residents of Ocala as well. Like us, they moved from the north country, Illinois, in their case. I am not sure Galveston, Texas, is the north, but we are originally from New England. We met for lunch at a local restaurant at the Ocala airport, which is equidistant from their home and ours. We covered a lot of conversational ground since we had not seen each other since perhaps the 10th reunion. Eliza and I look forward to more opportunities to connect with the Kelleys.

We were also contacted by Marty Jenkins andhis wife, Sue, who still live in New Hampshire. However, they are nomads on occasion and had planned a camping trip to our neck of the woods. Meals seem to be the constant in my connections with classmates, so we all met at the Bonefish Grill near the Villages in Florida. That’s another story waiting to happen. Marty and Sue apparently hit the road annually (and maybe more), traveling to various parts of the country, but I think the southern swing is one of their primary targets. Marty, Sue, Eliza, and I reminisced at some length since Marty and I were both members of Zeta Psi and dating our respective spouses throughout undergraduate years.

Now this from Ross McKinney: “You seemed to be desperate for mail, so I’ll pass along that I retired in November after seven years as chief scientific officer for the Association of American Medical Schools. It’s the organization that represents medical schools and academic health systems in Washington, so I spent most of my time working on policy issues related to how the government funds research and the regulations it imposes on medical research. It was a great job, but I’m happy to be retired. Before that I spent 37 years at Duke doing pediatric infectious diseases research and practice, including 10 years as the director of the Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities, and History of Medicine. Now I’m doing regular birding in the Durham-Chapel Hill area of North Carolina, visiting with my grandkids (four who live within a 5-mile radius), and traveling with my wife, Holly. Next up, New Zealand.”

Send us a postcard, Ross! By the way, 50th reunion planning is in full swing. Put it in your calendar.

Vox clamantis in Florida.

—Stephen D. Gray, P.O. Box 771918, Ocala, FL 34477; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com

Eliza and I spent most of October unpacking boxes and weeding through nearly 50 years of accumulation. This left little time for responding to the vast amounts of incoming email that I received from classmates. Oh wait; no, those were just the reminders from Dartmouth about the Dartmouth College Fund, the new president, and various sponsored cruises. So in my spare time I started trawling around my new state searching for locally ensconced 1975ers.

It turns out we have a bunch of doctors down here. I remembered that Andy Oldenberg, who is a very accomplished Mayo Clinic surgeon, lives in Jacksonville, Florida. Many years ago Andy and I stumbled onto each other as he was the primary surgeon on my father at the time. I still remember my dad telling me that a classmate was going to operate on him. My mind immediately raced to visions of undergraduate Saturday nights. Despite that, Andy did a fine job.

I have also discovered that Edward Jaffe is an orthopedic surgeon in Gainesville, Florida, the home of the University of Florida and a stone’s throw from our new home. I did not know Edward well when we were in Hanover, but it appears he had a very interesting career thereafter. Subsequent to his liberal arts education, he joined the Army and was a medic with the Green Berets. I suspect that was a true baptism by fire. Today Dr. Jaffe specializes in arthroscopic surgery, computer navigation and robotic-assisted surgery, knee and hip surgery, and sports medicine as well as total and partial joint replacement surgery. I may be calling on his practice soon.

Speaking of orthopedic surgeons, I thought I would look up my old friend Al Markman. Eliza and I lived briefly in the Minneapolis area and spent some memorable time with Al and Wendy. If my sources are accurate, it looks like they now live in southern Florida. I have not yet been in touch, but those two need to keep their antennae up for our incoming communications.

Next time, perhaps I will explore different career choices by our fellow classmates, such as retiree, for example.

Vox clamantis in Ocala, Florida.

—Stephen D. Gray, P.O. Box 771918, Ocala, FL 34477; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com

This submission is sent in as the temperature and humidity approach 100 in Galveston, Texas. Pretty standard operating procedure around these parts. I have been remiss in not connecting with many of our classmates these last several weeks, so the notes are a bit skimpy. Despite my shortcomings, I am constantly reminded of how these Class Notes can produce results.

In the last issue I had written about correspondence I received from Dave Spicer. I was pleased to learn that some folks actually read this stuff. A group of Dartmouth alumni in the Seattle area get together periodically, and they like to make sure they are scooping up any others who may live in the near vicinity. Bill Price ’72 contacted me to see if I had Dave’s contact details. I was able to connect this bunch and now our class will be represented as well.

You should all start thinking about the 50th coming up in less than two years now. The planning committee, led by our fearless leader, Lon Cross,has begun the task of organizing. So make sure you put it in the calendar for 2025. Hope you have been having a great summer.

Vox clamantis in Tejas.

—Stephen D. Gray, 3627 Avenue M, Galveston, TX 77550; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com

Eliza and I are freshly returned from a Disney cruise. Yes, you heard that correctly. In fact, we were joined by Peter Castle and his wife, Deb. You may think this was a thoroughly Mickey Mouse affair, but it did include a trip to Mayan ruins, an aborted docking at Progreso, Mexico, and an emergency stop to off load an unwell passenger. All in all, a memorable trip.

You may recall that Drew Remignati sent a friendly appeal to vote for his book to initiate the publishing. He follows up with this: “I did in fact reach the signed publishing contract stage. I remain only 275 votes short of their specified 2,000. I don’t think that threatens the actual publication, but the more votes I get, the more responsive they’ll be. The additional good news is that I’ve just last week submitted a completed first draft to the publisher. If editing and any rewriting goes efficiently, my book may be out in print by this summer.” He expressed his sincere thanks to the whole class for their support.

I had a nice call with Rick Jones, who is retired from practicing law. He spent many years working with a variety of law firms around the country assisting with their diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. He was kind enough to respond to my note regarding the work I am doing in support of Black asset managers and shared our materials with a few folks he knows well. Thanks so much, Rick!

Word also comes from Peter Fisher, who sent me some of his journal from his semester abroad in Romania. It reads like a novel. I am not certain who exactly joined him on this journey, but perhaps you all can follow up with your excerpts. Below is the introduction from 1972.

“The whole affair began about four months ago. I was sitting in a friend’s room back at Dartmouth. Customarily, I would read his issue of The D, the college daily, after I got back from my job at the library. It was 5:15 when I spotted a tiny column on the last page: ‘Students interested in spending a term in Romania or Africa, come to room 217 in Silsby Hall at 5:00.’ I checked my watch, dropped the paper, and rushed over to Silsby. After the introductory meeting, we met each Monday at five o’clock. There were only four of us who were interested. After a few meetings characterized by vagueness and uncertainty, things started falling into place. The five (one more student, on a term in Russia, became involved) of us met in Vienna and passed an enjoyable time in the old imperial city.”

Send me a note; I like hearing from you.

Vox clamantis in Tejas.

—Stephen D. Gray, 3627 Avenue M, Galveston, TX 77550; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com

In the last month I have been reminded of the power, joy, and continuing potential of our class connections from our time in Hanover.

Don Drakeman is a very successful biotech executive and entrepreneur. I have only tangentially touched the sectors in which he and his wife are experts, but occasionally I have the opportunity to work in that rarefied air and thankfully there are folks such as Don to bail me out. He and I connected on a small company where I was familiar with the founders and he reached out to see if he could be helpful. Thanks, Don!

With a business partner in Houston, I have formed a 501(c)3, The 1921 Institute, whose mission is to support the Black innovation and entrepreneurial community. There are a few initiatives active in this area (not enough), but there are few people more informed and connected in this effort than Jim Bildner. Jim was kind enough to share some of his experiences and insights with me and was able to connect me to some individuals who will be helpful as we build out our own network. Thanks, Jim!

A few years ago J. Alex Owen wrote a book titled Shwere Wasser. I hope you all ordered it as I did. Chris Carlson did not know how to get in touch with Alex regarding the book but knew to reach out to your trusty class secretary. I was able to connect these two and who knows what will come of it. It can only be something good when two ’75s get together. Thanks, Chris!

These connections also result in social connections and happy times. Larry Johnson was last seen hitting the bike for a 20-mile ride with Walt Evans inDallas. Keep it up guys—next time ride on down to Galveston.

Now ending on yet another happy note. Tom Delancey tells me, “I just read an article in Forbes that described how the U.S. News college ranking system was not particularly effective, and Forbes had a better idea: happiness. Dartmouth was No. 1 of the 50 schools in the ranking. This, of course, is not surprising to us. One of my best friends here in Louisville, Kentucky, is a local high school football coach. He recently had a kid who was being recruited by Purdue and Kentucky among others. At one point even a recruiter from Dartmouth came around. My buddy was greatly impressed because the recruiter was a much nicer, balanced, humble guy than most big-college recruiters. He even learned a new word from the guy, ‘Your kid? He’s a “take.” ’ ”

Vox clamantis in Tejas.

—Stephen D. Gray, 3627 Avenue M, Galveston, TX 77550; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com

From the depths of the Grand Canyon and the frothy river rapids comes a note from Dave “Duke” Robertson.Together with Dick Cates ’74, Gregg Kelley ’74, Carrie Lowell, Doug Richmond, John Lowell, Diane Manning, Mark and Judy Thomas ’74, Carl Stoner, Tu’75, Anne Stockmar Upton ’76, and John Upton, he braved the descent into the Grand Canyon with Dartmouth banner and flag in tow, just in case there was any question about the origins of this determined crew. He writes, “We had an excellent time, except for Annie Upton, who slipped on rocks and suffered a fractured fibula. She administered herself first aid by standing in the river, which maintained a not-so-balmy 48 degrees thru the trip. Everybody took a turn in the ‘wet seat,’ absorbing the spray as our guide expertly motored the raft through the rapids and falls. No tip-overs for this trip, likely because the river is so low. A grand time was had by all and a few river-chilled beers were consumed.” Sadly, Scott Lochridge and Frank Crowley were sorely missed as they deprived the gang of their humor and stories.

Our fearless Dartmouth Alumni Council representative, Brent Douglass, sent a letter to all of us in late June highlighting his outing on campus at the most recent meeting of the council. Apparently, many of us had voiced concern at the recent decline in overall success of the intercollegiate athletic program. According to Brent, interim director Peter Roby ’79 provided a thorough and very credible presentation regarding the status of Dartmouth athletics. Mr. Roby was very clear in expressing his own concerns (similar to those shared by some of you) regarding recent trends in the performance of Dartmouth athletic teams and shared his thoughts about why this has happened. There is now much optimism about the future as Mike Harrity (formerly of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the University of Notre Dame) has been named the new athletic director.

Finally, news has arrived that James Howard Reynolds III has authored a new book, A Traveler’s Guide to the Highway Geology of Iceland: A Geologist’s View from the Road of Iceland’s Volcanic, Glacial, and Shoreline Features. I have been to Iceland on a few occasions and look forward to seeing it through the eyes of someone who likely knows what they were looking at.

Vox clamantis in Tejas.

—Stephen D. Gray, 3627 Avenue M, Galveston, TX 77550; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com

Steve Gaige sent a note after Dartmouth Alumni Magazine caught his attention at the Maine Stay Inn in Camden, Maine, which happens to be owned by Peter Kesser ’80 and his wife, Janis. Steve writes, “Coincidentally, Peter was from Missoula, Montana, where I hitchhiked between my junior and senior years at Dartmouth. He had a painting on the wall by his grandmother of Rattlesnake Creek, the area I visited.”

After 37 years, Steve is now retired from the law but stays active as in most years he would be out skiing at Squaw Valley with his son, who has a place on the mountain, works for Apple, and lives in Palo Alto, California. He has two grandsons who I suspect keep him moving reasonably swiftly.

Rich Lane responded to my big hair issue with this, “In case your interest in hair is real, I still have a reasonable portion of it despite a slow and steady disappearance during the past 45 years.” You are better than I, Rich, having suffered some serious deforestation on the dome.

Rich spent 40 years in toxicology, the last 25 assessing the safety of food additives and contaminants—making sure new and existing materials are safe for their intended uses or do not exceed certain levels. He still consults for food companies looking to market new ingredients. With Covid, we hope, receding in the rearview mirror, he and Mary want to spend more time traveling and visiting family and friends.

Upon retirement four years ago the Lanes moved to Colorado to see new things and learn about another part of the country where they now enjoy living near the mountains and exploring the vast areas of the West. A bonus is that they are now closer to their oldest son and his family and roughly halfway between their other two sons who live with their families on both coasts. 

Prompted by a previous Class Notes mention of Stephen Harper, Sam James contributed the following Iowa summary: “I went with Stephen and his brother, Andrew Harper ’71, on an eight-day, geezer-paced backpacking trip in Yosemite last August (No. 4 was a University of Michigan grad). We had a great time, including twice driving into the apocalypse, once on the way south from Reno, Nevada, through a vast plume of forest fire smoke, and once going north to an overnight in Tahoe, California, under a snow of ash. In between we had perfect weather, slightly hazy vistas, and beautiful scenes along the trail. Besides Stephen and I, Scott Herriott and John Hagelin ’76 (graduated 1975) are here in our little town of Fairfield, Iowa. I met Lon Cross on a Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa a couple of years ago. Jake Dann and I had a great month of teaching and exploring in the North Channel of Lake Huron a few summers ago. He is in the Catskills now, I believe.”

Vox clamantis in Tejas.

—Stephen D. Gray, 3627 Avenue M, Galveston, TX 77550; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com

Struggle city: Sometimes when I wander down the front stairs and open the mailbox, I discover cobwebs and a distinct lack of mail. Alas, so, too, the email. As I reflect on whom to contact, I remember my first few days at Dartmouth in the fall of 1971. Yes, 50 years ago. I joined a freshman trip along a portion of the Presidential Ridge. We descended to the Mount Moosilauke Lodge, where someone yelled in my direction, “Hey, preppy!” Harry Reynolds, too, was a product of a New England boarding school and clearly knew what I was by mere appearance. Harry and I went on to enjoy an undergraduate friendship after that chance sighting.

Two of my fellow boarding school classmates, Steve Gaige and Jake McFadden, also were in our Dartmouth class. When I began to settle into Middle Fayerweather dorm I got to know my freshman floormates well. It was a true rogues gallery, consisting of Lon Cross, Steve Harper, Ken McKenna, Ted Stone, Bill Macey, Mark Sheehan, Dale Edmunds, Bill Meili,and my roommate, Pete Castle. Unfortunately, not all these gentlemen are still with us, but those who are seem to be going strong. Did I forget somebody from the first floor?

Throughout my Dartmouth experience I dated the same woman, my now spouse of 46 years, Eliza. I guess this is why I did not mingle with too many of our female classmates. Happily, I have enjoyed contact with many since, including Robbin Derry, Pamela Brewer Smyth, Gretchen Teichgraeber,and Laurie Keeshan Sullivan.

Another strong memory is those cards that dangled from our shirts by a string for football games. I remember “Impale Yale” and “CYRO is Zero,” There were others, of course, but for some reason these stood out. Thank goodness that the committee on year-round operations survived as well as coeducation; Dartmouth is a far better place as a result.

I also remember when I was the president of my fraternity Al Markman and I had some dispute between our respective organizations. I think there was a broken pool cue or spilled beer involved. As we attempted to handle it as adults, Al informed me that there would be “retribution.” I think he meant recompense, as I never suffered any bodily harm.

I can still see myself playing pool in the basement with a tall drink of water named Jon White. I don’t remember winning.

One very strong memory was driving across the Green at night with Jeff Sassorossi. Ah, maybe it was dream, I still have my diploma. Speaking of crossing the Green, I was on the way to an accounting course test with Rob Karin, who was a far more committed student than I. I was a bit behind in my studies and asked him, “What do you think will be the main question on the test?” He made a very accurate suggestion, for which I thank him.

Okay, now it is your turn.

Vox clamantis in Tejas.

—Stephen D. Gray, 3627 Avenue M, Galveston, TX 77550; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com

Although you are reading this in September/October, I am writing it in June on the heels of the local Juneteenth celebration. As a New Englander from birth, I was not as aware of Juneteenth as I should have been. Now I live at ground zero—Galveston, Texas. The elation at this day becoming a national holiday was deep here, and a new artwork mural was dedicated in the center of town attended by the co-sponsors of the bill making this a national day of recognition. If you want to be proud of this nation for continuously seeking to correct its mistakes, join me in celebrating Juneteenth every year, all year.

When the Black troops entered Galveston in 1865 and General Granger delivered his proclamation in this Gulf Coast community, it represented the full circle of delivery on the Constitution’s original promise of equality for all. How fitting that news should arrive on my desk of Gil Hahn’smost recent literary product—Campaign for the Confederate Coast: Blockading, Blockade Running and Related Endeavors During the American Civil War.

Gil is an attorney and historian who grew up in Washington, D.C., near Battery Kemble, one of the ring of forts defending the federal capital and also within easy touring range of many Civil War battlefields in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Gil is an enthusiastic and learned student of the Civil War, including the combined operations that took place at or near the major Confederate ports, but he was unable to find any book that pulled together all the various aspects of the war along coastal waters, including blockade running, the Confederate efforts to assist and then control blockade running, and the influence of international capital and foreign governments on the conduct of the Civil War.

We continue to gain steam in our Facebook page. New members include Peter Douxmont, Michael Varley, Wanda Irving,and Bob Jamieson.Please welcome them to our group.If you are not already on board, please sign up and join us. It is especially important as we start to gather momentum toward our 50th reunion. I know it seems like a long way off, but the planning has begun. In fact, as homework (I am giving you plenty of time to contemplate this), why don’t you shoot me a note with your fondest memory from undergraduate years and why it is still relevant today—or you can just send me a note and let me know you are alive.

Vox clamantis in Tejas.

—Stephen D. Gray, 3627 Avenue M, Galveston, TX 77550; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com

I hope that by now many of our fellow classmates have received both of their Covid-19 vaccination shots. The curve appears to be bending downwards and, although we are not out of the woods, we may be turning the corner. At least that is the way it feels in Texas.

However, just when you think the problems are in the rearview mirror, Mother Nature throws a once-in-a-100-years cold snap at us down here. Thankfully, my New England upbringing kicked in and Eliza and I were able to power through. That does not mean our kitchen didn’t dip to 43 degrees or that we lost one pipe, but we made it out the other end with minimal damage. Given that there are a number of classmates in this area, I checked around with a few of them to see how they did.

Jeff Barndt actually beat me to the punch and asked how we were doing. They were smart and bugged out for a couple of days. Looks like no burst pipes, but dead plants galore.

Bill Meili had one broken pipe, one flooded garage, and five days without running water. Sounds like one of his Army outings. Like the rest of us he was back up and running on the Sunday after the Monday power outage. The best news is he got his second Covid shot the next day.

Walter Evans had his hot water tank and pool system replaced, but according to the doc, “No one died.”

So, all in all, sounds as though these folks and the Grays made it out alive with a bit of damage and discomfort. If that is all we have to endure for five days during the winter, I think we can take it. Those who remember the coldest days on the Hanover Plain are probably chuckling at us Texas wimps, but this area is built for heat, not cold. Insulation is a luxury down here.

Speaking of cold, I heard from Robbin Derry, who is a professor at the Dhillon School of Business at the University of Lethbridge, Calgary campus. I suspect she has insulation. She continues to teach and has amassed an impressive one-year supply of sabbatical coming up. Robbin describes that as a generous incentive, but I also suspect she has earned it. She reminded me that she is one of the freshman soccer team inner sanctum.

As the story goes, “I’m included these days in a 20-person list of Dartmouth soccer players from our class (who had an undefeated freshman year). Since I dated one of them and stayed in touch with a few of them (Michael Caldwell, Drew Remignanti, Steve Buglione, Al Barstow), now I’m part of this group. So I am on the ‘Hey Guys and Robbin’ messages and Zoom calls. I participate in the many, many debates about who scored which goal in which game and who was on the field when that one goal by Norwich Academy was scored—the only goal against all season.”

Okay, ’fess up, which of you guys gave it up?

Vox clamantis in Tejas.

—Stephen D. Gray, 3627 Avenue M, Galveston, TX 77550; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com

Could 2020 be any weirder? In the last Class Notes I stated that I had returned home after evacuating from the path of Hurricane Laura. Now I am writing these notes as Tropical Storm Zeta batters the coast of Mexico and turns toward Louisiana. This storm season is a record-breaker. All this and the most critical election of our lifetimes, but I thought that was true of all of them. Never mind.

What is perhaps most unique about this year is the almost total migration of our communication system to video chats over Zoom, FaceTime, or whatever platform you find least annoying. In fact, the planning for our 50th reunion has begun—on Zoom. Yes, the 50th. It is only five years away. Our fearless leader, Lon Cross, assembled a substantial group of able bodies on one video call to start the process. I am sure that several of you are going to be roped into this, but the initial group included Mikael Salovaara, Matt Dwyer, Dale Edmunds, Dan Kenslea, Robbin Derry, Glenn Reed, Pam Smyth, Blake Winchell, Sandy Tierney, Chris McConnell, Al Austin, Ron Cima, Tom Denison, Sheldon Finch, and Jeff Sassorossi. In addition, we had a stealth appearance by Dave Cook, who cleverly signed on as Debbie.

There are some great events already in the planning phase and we want everyone now to mark your calendars to be there in June 2025.

During our call the wonders of this technology enabled Matt Dwyer to walk aimlessly around town while talking and he literally bumped into a young fellow wearing a Dartmouth sweatshirt. This young fellow made a guest appearance and marveled at how young we all looked. That might be a stretch.

Al Austin is doing double duty as our Alumni Council liaison and he recently attended a virtual meeting. I had pestered him with some questions for the group, which he dutifully asked and reported back on. He is doing a great job of staying in touch with current affairs in Hanover, so drop him a line if you are curious.

Better yet, drop me a line with an update!

Vox clamantis in Tejas.

—Stephen D. Gray, 3627 Avenue M, Galveston, TX 77550; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com

This installation of our Class Notes features a couple of classmates with whom we have not been in touch for quite some time.

First comes news from Larry Conley, who, after Dartmouth and Columbia, has spent almost 40 years as a communicator, teacher, and primarily journalist. His journalism career covered various cities, including Memphis, Tennessee, where he was the first Black editor of a city magazine in the country. In 2009, after 16 years as an editor at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he dipped in and out of retirement until taking the plunge for good in 2013.

Currently, in his words, “I’ve also been teaching adult literacy since 2010, first as a volunteer working with American adults and since last fall on a paid, part-time basis working with adult English as a second language students. Of course now, with the Covid outbreak, all my classes are online, which has been challenging but interesting. Personally, I’m living solo in an Atlanta suburb, have a grown son in Fort Worth, Texas, and, most importantly, my cutie granddaughter turned 1 year old on June 8. When it seems safe to fly again, first thing I’m booking is a ticket to Texas.”

Well, get on over here, Larry! He is still in regular touch with several ’75s, including Jerome Taylor, Rick Jones, Jeff Hunter, and Darryl Lewis.

Rich Yurko describes himself as “one of those silent readers of the Class Notes who always mean to write but almost never do.” Well, he did this month! Rich is still a practicing lawyer in Boston, having founded his own firm, a business litigation boutique, 25 1/2 years ago and is now in an “of counsel” role. He has always maintained outside interests, and after 10 years, including two as president, he just rolled off the board at GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), the “legal group that got marriage equality recognized throughout New England and then in the U.S. Supreme Court. As a member of the Supreme Court bar, I was in the well of the courtroom when our lawyer successfully argued our cause.”

His family still owns the Lyme, New Hampshire-based B&B, Breakfast on the Connecticut, and Rich is able to see lots of grads and lots of parents of current students as a result. He has remained in close touch with Hoyt Zia, with whom he and a couple of other high school friends gathered in Santa Fe, New Mexico, late last year. Hoyt has just retired as general counsel at Hawaiian Airlines. He also stays in touch with one of his former roommates, Dr. Mark Greenstein, who just retired from teaching at the UConn Medical School. “Finally, there are our classmates who worked for The Daily D. We stay in touch via Facebook and Instagram and poke each other when the news warrants it.”

Rich has promised to tell me over a beer about his trip out of China in January and Australia after that, escaping the virus and wildfires. Indiana Jones?

Vox clamantis in Tejas.

—Stephen D. Gray, 3627 Avenue M, Galveston, TX 77550; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com

Life in the slow lane is interesting during the winter months. The pace seems a bit more relaxed and one can perhaps appreciate the world in a more leisurely fashion. Such leisure may even allow us the time to connect with classmates before the year starts to get away from us.

In one such story from the medium lane comes word from William Carney.He and I are connected via Strava, where I am also connected to his son, Tom, who is presumably far fitter that we are, but I digress. I reached out to folks on Facebook and asked if anyone had a Peloton. William was negative, but did relay this episode.

“Last year I was hanging onto Tom’s (operative word: hanging) wheel in Rock Creek Park outside D.C. We passed a rider who then jumped onto my wheel. After a couple of minutes he passed me and chatted with Tom, who was wearing Dartmouth kit. The rider told Tom that he was a ’75. Tom said, ‘Slide back and meet your classmate.’ It was Robert Bell.” Clearly they were all going at a conversational pace!

In a separate hit from Facebook, the infamous, newborn poster boy Dr. Walter Evans gave me the high sign on Peloton. He is “DocWalt” and I am “fratergray.” If anyone else is a Peloton user, look us up.

Paul Parsons was also getting around this winter. From his travels to the D.C. area comes this note of connection with Jim Thiel: “I was there with wife and daughter for the latter’s graduation from Department of Justice training, fulfilling her childhood dreams. Jim has worked in Alexandria as an M.D., as does his wife. We were part of the Dartmouth lightweight crew team that rowed at the Henley Royal Regatta right after graduation and haven’t really talked much since then. I’m retired with a lymphoma and Jim is barely working, from what I can tell. Was great to match up memories of days gone by and compare notes on the life paths our alma mater prepared us for. We’ve both been very lucky, I think, and are optimistic and excited about the possibilities for the future. Wah-hoo-wah!”

I have it on good authority that Paul is doing well and feels great. The pictures on our Facebook page are great and always take me back—lots of familiar faces. That’s all—happy spring!

Vox clamantis in Tejas.

—Stephen D. Gray, 3627 Avenue M, Galveston, TX 77550; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com

Here comes 2020, the real 45th reunion year. Forty-five! Yikes! We have been kicking around a long time, and I was recently reminded that so have many Dartmouth-induced relationships among our classmates. Walter Evans reminds me that his wife, Candy, was Candace Fox, a 1975 exchange student from Wheaton College. In his words, they are closing in on 40 years of marriage. Not to be out done, William Carney has been married to Debbie Martin of Mount Holyoke nearly 41 years. Next comes Tom Hynes and Martha Soyster, an exchange student from Smith, who are nearing 44 years together. Clearly Dartmouth has created some very strong bonds across the class and the years.

An additional scoop on our Facebook page comes, this from Michael Garr (Sundvik), “Got to play with the Dartmouth College Marching Band again after a 45-year hiatus this past weekend, and saw a very solid football team take it to Yale. Nice Homecoming. Any other ’75s there? I was totally taken in by the band. Breakfast, practice, lunch, parade, pregame, stand play, halftime, postgame. Whew! Thanks, Brian Messier, for the lovely day and invite. Gotta do this again next year!”

I was recently contacted by Bill Cahill, who was in search of some photographs of pro cyclists eating pizza on tour. Now, you all may draw your own conclusions about how Bill entertains himself. One way is by occupying the information booth on the Green in the summer. He has been so successful and has had so much fun, I hear his number may be retired and I would not be surprised to see his green-check shirt hanging in the rafters of the Hop at some point.

Finally, I received a very welcome note from Ken Bohlin. I had not heard from Ken or seen him in ages. Here is some of what he had to share (edited to protect the innocent, whoever they are): “Didn’t make it to reunions but thought it was time to come out of the woodwork and send you a note. I have two sons and a daughter; all three children had great college experiences (Boston College, Tufts, UMass Amherst). Update on me is I retired after 30-plus years at London-based Informa Plc., most of it as CEO of the Americas. Small group of us took a tiny British publisher (IBC) and grew it to an $8-billion global information business. Cracked the Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 a few years ago and decided that was a good time to walk away.”

Ken and (partner) Pam now split their time between Bonita Springs, Florida, and Massachusetts and New Hampshire when they are not on a boat. I am also happy to report that Ken and John Pittenger are still close pals, getting together several times a year, including an annual golf trip they’ve been doing with other buddies for the past 35-plus years.

Go ahead and send me a similar note—I dare you!

Vox clamantis in Tejas.

—Stephen D. Gray, 3627 Avenue M, Galveston, TX 77550; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com

Another reunion is in the can, attended by 123 of your fellow classmates on the Hanover Green. As it was, I arrived late and missed out connecting with quite a number of them. However, I was fortunate enough to communicate with a few, including some old pals as well as folks that I really did not know well when I was an undergraduate. This latter aspect is one of my favorite parts of reunion; I learn about totally different perspectives of the Dartmouth College experience. If I saw you and do not mention you in these notes, my apologies!

One of these conversations was with David Sheppe, who has spent many years offshore as a financier-banker. He has a bit of experience in frontier markets in Africa and may head back there again. He kept the conversation interesting with a bit of trivia as well, asking us how many U.S. states are totally or in part north of the southernmost point of Canada. In this hallowed academic setting Google got quite a workout. Send me a note with your answers.

We were at the time among some of my freshmen dormmates, who occupied the triple down the hall, namely Ted Stone, Mark Sheehan, and Bill Macey.The Fayerweather mob posed for pictures, embarrassed their spouses, and had a beer or two. Great to see you all there—you still look the same; well, at least I recognized you.

On Friday nightI found myself in a conversation with Dave Cook, Chris Peisch, Mark Hinman, and Matt Dwyer on the subject of D-Day. With such passionate descriptions of visits to Normandy and the gray hair among us, you would have thought that we had all fought there. After all, it was our 44th reunion—coincidence??

Dale Edmunds and I were interlopers at a Psi U table, but John Upton, Dave Robertson, and Bill Zorn graciously allowed us to eat alongside them at lunch. The conversation flowed around the glory days of Dartmouth skiing (now!) and family updates. By the way, Bill is an excellent tax and estate attorney, just sayin’!

At the class photo-op on the lawn in front of Dartmouth Hall I stood next to Jeff Hunter, who is now in Washington, D.C., and has been for some time. We did not have a very long conversation, but it reminded me that I would really like to connect with more of our fellow minority classmates as well as women. I will try harder these next few years—hold me to it. I had the good fortune of speaking with Gretchen Teichgraeber, who has had a really interesting career and is now on the board of directors of a couple of companies, including Forrester Research.

To Bob Sullivan (shook his hand), Pam Smyth (seen at a distance), Art Beaver (saw him at the bar), and Pam Schlobohm (did I miss you?): a heartfelt thanks for the effort you have put into the truly memorable class newsletters this year.

Vox clamantis in Tejas.

—Stephen D. Gray, 3627 Avenue M, Galveston, TX 77550; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com

This month there is news from the four corners (the “girdled earth”) of our great country. First, Eliza and I have just completed the first weekend of Mardi Gras here in Galveston, Texas, with Peter Castle and his wife, Deb. They came down to this temperate area from a cold and barren Connecticut. The sight of this crowd lunging for beads thrown from the floats must have been hysterical; thankfully, no pictures.

And this from Bob “Action” Jackson in San Diego. “I am now officially retired from both my Navy and civilian careers, happily living in San Diego with my beautiful wife of 30 years, Bobbi. I am having lots of fun with my three young grandkids, with a fourth on the way in a couple months. My five boys are doing well, some in San Diego and some in Illinois. My oldest made a radical career change out of engineering and construction management to law enforcement, and is now a sergeant with the Illinois State Police.”

Bob retired from the Navy as a captain in the Civil Engineer Corps, where he was commodore of the First Naval Construction Regiment, responsible for all Pacific-based Seabees (approximately 4,000 Seabees and 23 units) during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The man is a double retiree, now retired from Sempra Energy as the general manager and director of engineering and construction, responsible for the $1.8-billion Sunrise Powerlink 230-500-kilovolt transmission line. Bob welcomes visitors to San Diego and hopes to make it to the 50th.

Back to the center of the country, and we find our newest Facebook page member Suzanne Metzel (which brings us to 105 members), who has chucked the lawyer’s life and is an accomplished photographer. Check out her portfolio at www.suzannemetzel.com—there is some very interesting material. She has a truly interesting story and apparently a very talented gymnastic daughter.

Finally, I bumped into (not literally) Jeff Barndt at a local (Houston) gathering of Dartmouth graduates celebrating Daniel Webster’s birthday. Our prior contact was on the golf course some time ago, during which I perfected my strip-mining techniques. As I recall, Jeff won the day. The most recent gathering was a fitting one in this year celebrating 250 years of Dartmouth College and the renewed interest in the Dartmouth College case. See you at reunion.

Vox clamantis in Tejas.

—Stephen D. Gray, 3627 Avenue M, Galveston, TX 77550; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com

You all will likely be reading this around the year-end holidays. If so, I wish you all a very happy new year and hope to see you at our 45th in Hanover June 13-16. I suspect that our class treasurer, Jeff Sassorossi, would think very kindly of you if you were to pay your class dues well in advance of this blessed event. The dues support the work of our class and go a long way to making the reunion a memorable event.

I am sure you will begin to receive numerous mailings about our reunion and the various events. I am not sure I have the energy to plan a full-blown supported bicycle ride, but I am hopeful of getting my hands on a bike and heading out for a jaunt while I am there. I have to redeem myself for the failed mini-reunion bike ride earlier this year. It was anticipated to be such an amazing event that Kevin McGillicuddy chimed in with, “I’ll notify the Austin City Council. They’ve been depending on the hotel tax revenue.” Let me know if you want to ride in Hanover that weekend, maybe we can get a gang together. It is a short ride over to the Etna Store and I think they sell beer.

A recent note from Coleman Tuggle follows: “I stopped off this summer, for the third or fourth time, to visit our classmate and my fellow TriKap Nick Hunt and his wife in Atlantic, Iowa, where he has a third-generation farm, growing 2,000 acres of corn to fatten 2,500 head of cattle (he’s halfway to Denver, where my daughter lives, so it breaks up our trips to visit her). Pretty amazing seeing where your food comes from—and where some ’75s ended up (his dad went to Dartmouth as well). I think he’s also planning to be at the reunion.” Well there are two reunion-goers!

How about those 6-0 footballers! Can they go all the way—or did I just jinx them.

Vox clamantis in Tejas.

—Stephen D. Gray, 3627 Avenue M, Galveston, TX 77550; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com

My wife, Eliza, and I were recently in the Upper Valley to (finally) sell our house in Grantham, New Hampshire. Success. While making our rounds I bumped into Roger Clarkson dining at Three Tomatoes in Lebanon, New Hampshire, with his wife, Karen, and family. Needless to say, Roger was nonplussed to learn that I had sold a house, and he was not involved. Worse, he spilled the beans to Jeff Sassorossi that I was in town and had neglected to turf up on his doorstep. Although I was able to provide apologies, Jeff told me that my penance was coughing up my annual class dues, which we should all send along—now.

While connecting with folks through my (now former) Upper Valley homestead, I received this note from Blake Winchell, a fourth-generation Texan:“Hope this finds you well and loving Galveston [Texas]. I had many great days of skipping high school at Surfside! [It is just down the coast from Galveston.] I had an opportunity to visit Chicago last week for a board meeting and enjoyed a wonderful mini-reunion with three great ’75ers—John Koltes, Tom Denison, and my dorm mate and roommate for all four years, Keith Benson. We were proud to catch up on each other’s families. A bunch of really great kids have come out of those unions. Look forward to seeing (all) you (all) at the 40th!”

To complete the Gray family geographic connection, I enjoyed a nice email exchange with Howard Hodel, who is in Honolulu. My mother’s family dates back to the 1800s in Honolulu—go figure. Howard is the acting chief investment officer of the Hawaii Employees Retirement System. He plans to attend our next reunion, which is the week after his daughter’s graduation. As an aside, Howard is also the class gifting chair. If you want to make a statement for our 45th (well…44th), Howard is your man.

Ron Cima pinged me to see if I might be willing to be the class of 1975 contact person for Zeta Psi. Of course I would, so here goes. Hey, all you Zetes, come to reunion next year. You know who you are, but where the heck is Rick Cornwell? One of my fraternity brothers, Brad Ashley, states that he is just chilling in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. However, he seems to have spent a great deal of time and effort opening St. Johnsbury Academy in South Korea. He and I are already concocting a bike ride for our reunion.

Speaking of bike rides, we are preparing for a mini-reunion in Austin, Texas, during the weekend of October 26-28. If you want more details, just send me an e-mail.

Vox clamantis in Tejas.

—Stephen D. Gray, 3627 Avenue M, Galveston, TX 77550; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com

This was a total Dartmouth immersion month for me. I don’t really have too many of those since we left the Upper Valley, and it was time well spent reconnecting. Oddly, it was with a variety of non-classmates and reveals the kind of bond we all share to that small college. I re-entered the applicant interview circle in my new hometown, Houston (well, Galveston, really, but that is a detail). The event was organized by Brandt Bowden ’00, the chief investment officer of Hanover Co., which was founded by his father, Murry Bowden ’70. There were a good many alumni participating, and I was also able to connect with Tyrone Byrd ’73 as we reminisced about the Dartmouth College of the 1970s. If you haven’t jumped into the interview pool recently, get back in, it is really rewarding and a great way to reconnect.

If that wasn’t enough, Eliza and I enjoyed a visit from my fraternity brother Rick ’74 and Catherine Ranger, who were in Houston attending a wedding. We had a great outing in Galveston and a wonderful catch up on the last 40 some odd years.

Regarding news that is closer to home for 1975, it turns out we have more authors among us than I knew. HarperCollins will publish Rick Allen’sbook about Robert Kennedy on May 1 in honor of 50 years since his assassination. I should say that it is being republished. Here is a preview: “Twenty-five years after Bobby Kennedy was assassinated, RFK: His Words for Our Times, a celebration of Kennedy’s life and legacy, was published to enormous acclaim. Now, a quarter century later, this classic volume has been thoroughly edited and updated.”

This just in from Art Beaver and Bob Sullivan, our newly drafted newsletter editors: “Dear classmates, we’re putting together four class newsletters between now and our 45th reunion in Hanover next June. We’re accepting all reminiscences of any length, trying to start a conversation. We’re also proposing themes. You might have seen our first ragged effort. In our second we’re proposing that folks focus on the idea of ‘Women Coming to Dartmouth,’ as our class is so uniquely positioned on this question. Have any of your sisters or daughters gone to Dartmouth, and how did the College change? We particularly want to hear from our female classmates, and any of them who want to guest edit—just let us know. Now, we don’t want to step on Steve’s toes here in his fine alumni mag column, and would suggest if you want to write longer form, come to us—we’ve got nothing but space. Anything can be shared with the class, on topic or off, by sending to Bob Sullivan at robertsullivanbooks@gmail.com or Artie Beaver at ajbeaver29@gmail.com. Let’s look at a Labor Day deadline. Hoping you all are very well.” Could not have said it better!

Vox clamantis in Tejas.

—Stephen D. Gray, 3627 Ave. M, Galveston, TX 77550; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com

This fall there were at least two notable mini-reunions. One witnessed a real nail-biter at Penn. Pamela Brewer Smyth writes, “We had a class mini-reunion at the tailgate party at Penn: Lon Cross, Chris McConnell, Al Barstow, Al Austin and spouses and Ted Stone and his wife, Lynn, drove down from Stamford, Connecticut!”

Then there was the annual freshman soccer bash in Hanover about which both David Kepes and Robbin Derry provided roster accountings. As usual the affair was well attended, and included Frank Gallo, Mike Caldwell, Drew Remignati, Stephen Buglione, Mark Porto, Andy McDowell, Steve Papai, Ron Cima and the ever-present Al Austin.Apparently, Al heard there was free food and booze at both events.

Now from the “Long Lost Soul” category comes news from Brian Kingsbury, who wrote a lovely note: “Professionally, like a number of classmates, I’ve retired from the full-time employment wars. Spent an entire career selling groceries for Safeway. I spend time volunteering for Make-A-Wish and tutoring in an elementary school in Spokane [Washington]. I get to work with first- through fourth-graders on basic math, reading and writing. Probably the tougher challenge for kids in my grade group would be angles—obtuse, acute, right and so forth. We have a lot of fun and the kids keep me young. I’m still running, but with the inevitability of age it’s easier now to do triathlons and give the various muscle sets a break. A full Ironman takes about 13 hours. Marathons are still do-able in under 3:30. But the speed isn’t exactly what it was when our cross-country team ran out on the Hanover golf course. I get in quite a bit of backpacking—the Sierras, Elkhorns, Wallowas and Hells Canyon. For the first time ever I recently went to the top of Mount Whitney—turns out the view is more awesome looking up at that mountain from the east or west profile than the actual summit view. And yes, the solar eclipse from a 7,600-foot ridge in eastern Oregon was flat-out, over-the-top amazing! If any classmates are ever passing through the Spokane area, feel free to reach out to me at bhking02@gmail.com.”

Lon Crossalso reminds me that it is not too early to be thinking about our 45th, which is tentatively scheduled for June 13-16, 2019. As in the past, we will be clustered with the classes of 1973 and 1974, so this will actually be our 44th reunion.

Dave Cook and Tom Denison will serve as our reunion co-chairs again. They are currently looking for classmates to serve on the reunion committee in various capacities. We are also looking for a temporary class newsletter editor, a temporary class webmaster and a temporary class necrologist. The commitment for these roles will end in June 2019. Please contact Lon or me if you are interested in serving in one of these very rewarding positions. The benefits packages associated with these positions are beyond your imagination.

Vox clamantis in Tejas.

—Stephen D. Gray, 3627 Avenue M, Galveston, TX 77550; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com

This must be the graduation issue, and I question why I did not take more shop classes at Dartmouth. It would have helped with my weekend project of repairing the rotten wood on my garden shed and then painting it. Thankfully, I at least completed the task before the summer heat of Texas. Speaking of Texas, I had a delightful conversation with State Sen. Kel Seliger. Kel represents the 31st District, which incudes the Panhandle of Texas all the way to Permian Basin—oil country. He has been doing a great job in the Texas Senate, where he follows his own instincts and gut intuition rather than the party line. Seems like the people of the 31st are very well represented. Kel travels around the state and I hope to catch him on a swing to Houston.

I also received a very welcome note from one of my fellow Fayerweather compatriots. Mark Sheehan writes, “It’s been a while, about 50 years maybe [well not that long, Mark!], and if your memory needs some jogging I’m the guy you sold your waterbed to lo those many years ago. I am a doctor and I work in the clinic at Johnson Space Center (JSC). I’ve been here for seven and half years now. Prior to coming to Johnson I was a flight surgeon in the Air Force for 20 years.” 

Although the JSC is a giant bureaucracy, Mark says that there is an undeniable excitement to working for NASA; he has met four people who walked on the moon.

Mark also attended Homecoming last year and was pleased to run into Lon Cross and Chris Peich while there.

And on news from the high seas, Rich Lane and Rick Black together with their respective spouses, Mary and Anne, joined 26 other guests on a Dartmouth alumni cruise aboard Safari Explorer cruising the islands of Hawaii, Molokai, Maui and Lanai at the end of February and the beginning of March. Rick says it was an unbelievable trip with dramatic whale sightings; snorkeling with local fish and sea turtles; exposure to a Hawaiian family living off the grid and practicing the native culture; scrumptious food, drinks and camaraderie; a 2.5-mile hike through a rain forest to a spectacular waterfall; and a final native dinner off the boat at an old sugar mill complete with Hawaiian entertainment. Professor Ron Edsforth gave two lectures on the history of Hawaii, and two experts were on hand to discuss marine life and native culture. Now that is the way to go to school!

Vox clamantis in Teja.

—Stephen D. Gray, 3627 Ave. M, Galveston, TX 77550; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com

In my new home state of Texas it is said that everything is bigger. The sky is bigger, the Gulf is bigger, the steaks are bigger. Bigger than what? Well, bigger than those things are anywhere else, of course. The ties that bind seem bigger in some ways as well. While I have had the great fortune to reconnect with many Dartmouth grads and classmates in our moves around the country, I am anticipating that the reconnections here will be even grander. Eliza and I have lived in the Upper Valley, New York City suburbs, Hartford (Connecticut), Minneapolis, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area. And now, Galveston. Recently, the long reach of the Hanover Plain reunited me with some pals (they were no bigger than I recall!) in Texas.

For those whose geography skills are limited, Galveston is spitting distance from Houston, where I was lucky enough to enjoy lunch with Jeff Barndt and John Elsenhans ’74. It has literally been 40-plus years since we last connected, and I am pretty sure that was at Eliza’s and my wedding in Stonington, Connecticut. Sadly, I missed an earlier gathering that had included Bob “Kid” Vaeth. Remarkably, I learn of the multiple links we all share at these types of gatherings. Turns out that Jeff and I worked in the same extended organization for a time and I was completely unaware. Jeff is an accomplished oil and gas industry exec and had worked as a banker in Houston while I was in the capital markets side of the business in New York. He departed a few months before I came on board.

Also in Texas, we find our very own Walter Evans, who as many of you may know delivers babies for a living. He is one busy dude based on the number of Dr. Evans’ deliveries I read about. However, Walter’s energy may be exceeded by his wife, Candy. She is a prolific real estate blogger and running for city council in Dallas. If you have not seen her blog, check out CandysDirt.com.

On a more somber note, I relay to all of you the sad news of the passing of Rich Maresca and Doug Chester. As always, you can find additional information on deceased classmates in the online version of DAM.

Vox clamantis in Tejas.

—Stephen D. Gray, 3627 Ave. M, Galveston, TX 77550; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com

I suspect that you may be ringing in the new year by the time you read this. If so, the interminable election campaign will be behind us and the jockeying for position in 2020 will have already begun. I will attempt to avoid bringing my politics to this column, but I will share a quote from George Bush, president No. 41: “I think I am growing old at just the right time.” I think I should begin to look for a safe space…my backyard. Thankfully, some things do not change; we still can enjoy our classmates and relive our past glories—or some aspect of our collective Dartmouth experiences.

The other item that does not change is that Jeff Sassorossi would be very pleased if you paid your class dues. In fact, we probably all would as it helps support our good works and reduces the burden for all. The proceeds will support the class’ sponsorship of the Barbary Coast visiting artist program and the class of 2020 students who attend a performance of any student ensemble group in their fall term.

In addition, you can send along a note that Jeff can forward to me, which I will then send off to the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine so that they can print it here. In fact, the following note came from Mark Hinman. “I am happily retired and my wife and I are enjoying our six grandchildren. We have four in Massachusetts and two in Rome, New York, so we are on the road a lot.” No kidding. I have two daughters, one in Oklahoma and one in Virginia. Mark is way ahead of me in grandchildren; our first is (was) due in November.

From Ross McKinney: “I had a fairly substantial change last month (September). After 37 years I retired from Duke University Medical School as a professor emeritus of pediatrics and three days later I began as the chief scientific officer for the Association of American Medical Colleges in Washington, D.C. I’ll still be living in Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and commuting to D.C. My job is to represent academic medicine’s interest in research to a variety of audiences (the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, executive branch offices and the broader public). My wife is anchoring our N.C. house and providing daycare to my 3-year-old local grandson. [There are those pesky grandchildren again!] I also have a 6-year-old grandson and 3-year-old granddaughter in Williamsburg, Virginia, where my son is a visiting assistant professor in philosophy at William & Mary.”

In my regular crawl through Facebook I stumbled upon a nice fall outing picture of fellow Dartmouth football managers Rick Ranger ’74 and our own Rob Karin, who were both trekking around in the outback of Goshen, Connecticut. Rob and Michelle can be found frequenting that neighborhood. Rob once gave me some excellent legal advice, which I will share with you if you pay your class dues.

My new year’s wish: Delay further the full onset of curmudgeon.

—Stephen D. Gray, 3627 Ave. M, Galveston, TX 77550; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com
 

It is hot and humid in my new home base, Galveston, Texas. Many of us will, no doubt, be on holiday trips or family reunions during this summer and I certainly wish you all the best as the summer wanes and thoughts of cool, crisp autumn days come into view. I hope that you all read the May-June issue, which had a very interesting article regarding Michael Gennaco and his efforts to investigate police misconduct. This is a very timely topic indeed.

As I swelter in Texas, I consider that misery loves company, so I rang one of my fraternity brothers who also resides in Texas—Rob McKenney. Rob and his wife, Claudia, have lived in Texas for many years; memory fades on exactly how many, but I do recall visiting him in Fort Worth in the early 1990s, when he was treasurer of the Burlington Northern Railroad. After that Rob, together with partners, acquired a number of short-line railroads, which have since been sold. For a guy who was our house manager—I remember him wandering around the house with a tool belt—railroading seems very natural. Rob and Claudia also built their own house in Fort Worth; I am not sure how many of the nails Rob actually hammered, but a few, I am sure. The McKenneys have three children, Jason, Brian and Dina, all scattered in successful law and finance careers from Texas to New York to London.

Unfortunately, we received word in June of the passing of Danny Kopec. You can see a complete obituary online. I remember Danny as a gregarious and very bright individual. He applied that intellect to the game of chess, achieving Master status and challenging some of the best in the game. Our thoughts are with his family.

That is it for now—more in the fall.

—Stephen D. Gray, 3627 Avenue M, Galveston, TX 77550; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com

Both Lon Cross and I hit the phones this month, connecting with a few of our classmates. First from Lon: As an undergrad, Jim Bach went by the last name Butzbach; however, his wife, Sharon, insisted on shortening the name before agreeing to marry Jim—tough negotiator. Jim has practiced law at his own law office off lower Market Street in San Francisco since 1990. His practice focuses primarily on supporting the immigration needs of small to mid-sized information technology firms in the Bay Area. Jim and Sharon have three children.

From the Left Coast to Bernieland, Judy Geer continues to take an active part in the day-to-day operations of Concept2 (www.Concept2.com). Another venture, in which Judy is actively involved, is the Craftsbury Outdoor Center (www.craftsbury.com), which provides facilities and training programs for rowers, Nordic skiers and runners who compete at the national and international level. Their children, Hannah ’09, Th’10, Emily ’11 and Ethan ’13, Th’15, are all competitive biathletes and Hannah is currently a member of the U.S. team. Judy has clearly redefined “ski mom.”

Lon enjoyed lunch with Mark Myers, who is a past-commodore of the Annapolis Yacht Club, where he was the chief executive of one of the oldest and most established yacht clubs in the country. Among Mark’s many sailing accomplishments was a transatlantic voyage aboard a 51-footer with a crew of five—not bad for a guy from Missouri! Aside from devoting much of his free time to sailing, Mark assists various corporate clients with the acquisition of important art pieces. Mark and his wife, Melissa, have two daughters who are gainfully employed.

Tom Wood retired from Goldman Sachs in Chicago in 2010. Tom has kept Parkinson’s under control with excellent medications and determination. He still skates, has taken up cycling and is an avid golfer. In the past couple of years Tom has taken to devoting three days a week to tutoring reading to first-graders in inner-city Chicago. Finally, Tom has played 20 of the U.S. Open golf courses on his way to conquering all 47. Yikes!

I also caught up with Bill Cahill, who many of you know had a serious health scare last year. He and his family worked through it together and Bill sounded great when I spoke with him. His political sanity is truly being tested this year as well. For a guy who has seen virtually every type of political battle from the inside, I think even he is amazed by 2016. Keep the faith, Billy!

In a surprise appearance, I spoke with John Pittinger, who lives outside of Boston and has enjoyed a successful career as a CFO for telecommunications companies. He has also been married to the same woman for nearly as long as I have and has the two 30-something children to prove it. He is still good pals with Ken Bohlin, who he sees pretty regularly.

That’s a wrap.

—Stephen D. Gray, 3627 Avenue M, Galveston, TX 77550; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com

October was a good month for the class, with several gatherings near and far. In Hanover the freshman soccer mob was back in action to watch the Big Green take out Princeton 1-0 (that’s one-nil for you aficionados). Dave Kepes, in attendance, writes, “Frank Gallo, Mike Caldwell, Al Barstow, Drew Remignati, Steve Buglione, Steve Papai and I connected to watch the men’s varsity soccer host Princeton after a spirited kickaround at Sculley-Fahey field then dinner and a few drafts. Ron Cima also showed—playing well.” Apparently, they picked up Mark Porto on the way and treated themselves to a Jesse’s dinner after the win.

On the other side of the country—the San Francisco Bay Area—a group of us gathered for drinks and dinner at the swanky Rosewood Hotel in Menlo Park. Several spouses showed up as well, accompanied by their classmate husbands, including Bob Quinn, Alan Lim, Walter Evans and your humble correspondent. Walter and Candy get the award for farthest distance traveled, swooping in from Texas. I suppose I should give kudos to our class president, Lon Cross, who flew in from Washington, D.C. Also in attendance were George Hammond, Larry Habegger and Vickie Grove. For me, this was a fantastic gathering as I was able to renew old acquaintances and actually meet some classmates for the first time. Well, at least I thought it was the first time.

The next day Lon and I headed out for a slightly hilly cycling trip, accompanied by Andy Halliday. Andy showed up on a fat tire bike, but showed Lon and me how easy it can be if you stay in shape. Andy is the COO of LifeAid, a sports and health beverage company in Santa Cruz, California. Andy and I have not laid eyes on each other in 40 years, but we discovered on our ride that our families have in common a love for horses and that his daughter rides her horse next door to my daughter’s house in Gilroy, California (the garlic capital of the world, if you did not know). The Dartmouth degrees of separation are very narrow indeed.

There were other gatherings, I am sure. In fact, I know that our own Jeffery Hunter organized a Dartmouth gathering around the Georgetown football game in Washington, D.C., together with Rick Ranger ’74. All in all, a great set of events and we should all be striving to connect with our classmates whenever possible. I, for one, was a bit distant for many years (even though we lived in Hanover, Etna and Grantham, New Hampshire!). The rewards of reconnecting are many, including the continuing education I receive when speaking with such amazing folks.

Until next time—enjoy the year-end holidays!

—Steve Gray, P.O. Box 296, Half Moon Bay, CA 94019; (650) 392.8739; stephendgray@gmail.com

The mail bag (old school) was little a lean this month, but I think most people are gearing up for summer (you will be reading this as they gear down). Some are also preparing for their offspring to become official members of the working class. David Kepes is the proud parent of a freshly minted 2015 Dartmouth College grad. Any others?

Once in a while we get a message in a bottle from someone who has been MIA for some time. I received such a note from distant shores during this between-issues period from Jim Bengtson, who writes, “My first time writing to the alumni magazine! I guess I could be accused of procrastinating a bit. Last September, I joined Doctors Without Borders. I am currently living in Kutupalong, Bangladesh, near the border with Myanmar. I am the sole ex-pat doctor in a clinic that provides care to more than 60,000 Rohingya refugees, who live in precarious conditions. Neonates, burn victims, elephant attacks, malaria, TB—never a dull moment!” Well, Jim, I think I can say that we are all in awe of your dedication and efforts. It is a fine and humanitarian thing you are doing. Our best wishes to you—come back safe…whenever that is.

In closer proximity is Al Austin. He actually sent this note to me some time ago and I whiffed by burying it in one of my cobweb-encrusted email holes. But I digress. In his words, “I had a chance to catch up with Sandy Tierney briefly as I watched him win the Squash 60-plus National Doubles Championships here on my home courts in Philly in late March. He and his partner dispatched with their opponents decisively in the finals, as one would expect. Sandy may have lost half a step since our days in Hanover but his accuracy is unparalleled. I am playing a good bit and managed to pick up some pointers from Sandy but execution on my part could be a problem. I manage to stay in touch with Al Barstow and Chris McConnell, who are also here in Philly, and they are both doing great."

We will have to see if Sandy responds in the next issue about that “lost half a step” thing.

I would like you all to keep in touch through the Facebook page; I seemingly never tire of promoting its virtues. Please let me know if you are ever out west, and do not forget the West Coast mini-reunion the weekend of October 2-4. There will be some cycling and a dinner on Saturday night along the coast south of San Francisco. More later.

—Steve Gray, P.O. Box 296, Half Moon Bay, CA 94019; (650) 392.8739; stephendgray@gmail.com

I hope my former fellow Easterners will have dug out by this printing and will be enjoying a pleasant spring. It was really chilly here in the Bay Area in February; I believe it dipped into the 40s. This is just another way of reminding people that we will be holding a class mini-reunion on the coast in October. A recent note from Andy Halliday indicates that he is highly likely to attend. “I am about 30 minutes from Costanoa, so will be there for sure. Looking forward to seeing others in my neck of the woods.” Lon Cross had better show up as well.


In the email bag I also was fortunate enough to hear from another transplant. Greg Northcraft says, “I am currently at the University of Illinois business school, but desperately planning a very soon relocation to Carmel, California. I have looked very seriously at houses in Ocean Colony [secretary’s note: This is where Eliza and I reside]. The course options in Carmel and Monterey are better, but it is hard to beat Half Moon Bay’s combination of being on the coast but proximal to the San Francisco airport.” I don’t think Greg is referring to the rigorous course load either.


From the plains of Hanover at Winter Carnival comes this first-hand report from Michael Garr, “Jeanne and I truly enjoyed our sojourn back to Hanover last weekend. We were incentivized by free Barbary Coast Jazz Ensemble tickets. I am very proud of our class for sponsoring the group. Seeing these non-music majors having the time of their lives blasting classic Big Band charts gave me as much of a thrill as our first run-through of a Nestico arrangement of ‘Satin Doll’ when Mike Pope ’78 and I revived the group winter of 1975 in prep for Barbary Coast at the Top of the Hop at Winter Carnival. Don Gringas is still directing the group after 40 years, and this was the 39th Winter Carnival concert since then. This music still ‘sends’ me, and the Coast was the greatest band I ever played with. Well, Bobby and the Corvairs might be up there as well. Our best to all!”


Just a brief note from Scott Mosenthal, who reports after his visit to Jacksonville, Florida, that Andy Oldenberg is doing well. I recalled to Scott that my dad had lived in Jacksonville and Andy had performed surgery on him. My father got quite the chuckle watching a couple of classmates catch up at the foot of his bed after having his organs knocked about by one of them.


I include one final note from the class Facebook page. Tom Thompson added several pictures from the fall of 1973 that truly captured the spirit of the class and resulted in a few choice rejoinders. You really should sign up so you do not miss this stuff; it is priceless. We are approaching 100 classmates hooked up on the page. Oh, and don’t forget your class dues and the Alumni Fund.


—Steve Gray, P.O. Box 296, Half Moon Bay, CA 94019; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com


One happy result of Eliza’s and my move to the West Coast is that we have completely upended our traditional network of contacts and sphere of influence—not sure I actually had one of those! Additionally, the class Facebook page has brought us, and many other classmates, into contact with those we did not know well or with whom we had lost touch. My new local ’hood is home to Gary T. Lafayette, who recently hit the join button. Gary, a very successful litigation lawyer, is founding partner at the 21-year-old firm of Lafayette & Kumagai. After Dartmouth Gary attended law school at the University of California at Berkeley and interned with Justice Frank Newman of the California Supreme Court. He has received numerous awards over the years, including California Lawyer Attorney of the Year.


Speaking of awards and lawyers, word comes that Joe Yastrow was recently voted by his peers as Best Lawyers’ 2014-15 Chicago Litigation-Labor Employment Lawyer of the Year. Joe is president of Laner Muchin Ltd., a Chicago-based firm dedicated exclusively to the representation of management in labor and employment law matters. As some of you may know, Joe is a boxing enthusiast, which may explain a lot. He currently resides in Highland Park, Illinois, with his wife and two children. In addition to his successful law career, Joe has devoted much of his time to fundraising and related charitable activities. He was a founding executive board member of the Children’s Brittle Bone Foundation (CBBF) and testified before the U.S. Congress on behalf of the CBBF. He is also a working volunteer in the Anti-Cruelty Society’s dog care program in Chicago. 


Brad Ashley and I had a chance to catch up recently. Brad lives in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, and sent me this update in response to news of my daughter’s wedding: “As for my two sons, one is now an obstetrician/gynecologist so he at least catches babies while we dream of grandkids. I spent eight years as a head of school in Wisconsin, where Rob Manegold surprised me at the hiring interview with my picture from the frosh book—still got the job. Too funny!” He is married to Janet Warner-Ashley, who taught for many years at the St. Johnsbury Academy. After his own stint in education Brad is now onto other challenges and is working on development projects in the Northeast Kingdom in an effort to stimulate jobs and the local economy.


Another of my victims was our own Hanover insider, Jeff Sassorossi, who tells me that his daughter, Chrissie, is moving to Chicago. Thankfully (Jeff’s word), she has a job and will be gainfully employed in the ad biz. His son, William, is finishing up his master’s and should be well on his way. Don’t forget to track down Jeff when you are in town (Hanover). 


On a more somber note, I inform you of the passing in August of Fred Williamson and James Reed. James was an independent oil and gas producer and passed away at his home in Charleston, West Virginia. Fred lived in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and passed away at the Bridgeport Hospital after a courageous battle with cancer. More complete obituaries will be available on the online version. 


That’s it for now.


—Steve Gray, P.O. Box 296, Half Moon Bay, CA 94019; (650) 392.8739; stephendgray@gmail.com


This is one of those rare moments in life when there is good news and good news. After more than a decade penning these columns, a new voice will soon be taking on this yeoman task, none other than our own Steve “Hemingway” Gray. The other good news is that I have been promoted from class secretary to a role I have cherished for a very long time, namely not a class officer. On a serious note, I can report that the class is in a very stable and strong position and the current slate of officers that Steve will be reporting on in his next column will ably carry on the leadership tasks ahead.


Now, some news from reunion. First a confession—I wasn’t there. And now another confession, I stupidly traded my Hanover Inn room to my old pal and a frequent target of this column, Sandy “Baldy” Tierney in exchange for his express agreement to be my chief correspondent at reunion. I’ll let you judge how effective this transaction was from the following email I got from Sandy a week ago: “Dear Jim, my room at the Hanover Inn was great. As to the reunion news, here you go—we all reconnected 39 years after graduation, drank a lot of beer, told stories of how much fun we had while we were at Dartmouth, bored each other to tears and woke up each morning slightly hung over, which progressively got worse as the nights wore on.”


A more complete report will follow in Steve’s next column, but in short more than 100 classmates turned out and despite rain on Thursday, nothing dampened the class’s enthusiasm. Many reported that the classes of 1973 and 1974 that we shared reunion activities with looked much older than we did. Golf on Friday was dry and the dinner Saturday night in Alumni Hall was great. The class held a very moving memorial service for the 50 classmates who we have lost since graduation, led by Mike Caldwell, Pam Brewer Smyth, Lon Cross, Tom Denison and Matt Johnsen. Many thanks to Tom Denison and David Cook for pulling the reunion together and making it so much fun for the class.


From the mailbag, two pieces of news. First, our own Stephen Alpert just joined Stradley Ronon’s New Youk office as counsel. Stephen represents asset-based and commercial lenders in financing transactions, workouts, restructurings and liquidations and he represents some of the largest financial institutions, banks and funds in the country. Next comes news that Bob King, a partner in Dentons US LLP, just launched his debut novel titled Why? A Courtroom Drama of Self-discovery. The book, in part, takes place at Dartmouth. Congratulations, Stephen and Bob!


And now, one last bit of news, this time about me. In late fall I joined Draper Richards Kaplan as their managing partner and will be splitting my time between our Menlo, California, and Boston offices. For me it’s the dream of a lifetime working with an incredible team of partners, funding social entrepreneurs trying to solve some of society’s most complex and intransient problems. If you get a chance, take a look at our website, www.drkfoundation.org. It’s truly an amazing place. And feel free to send over any social enterprises you think we should look at.


Well that’s all the news that’s fit to print. Please send news to Steve at stephendgray@gmail.com. If you don’t, he’ll do what all newly minted class secretary’s do—he’ll start making things up about you.


Do keep in touch. Nanc and I send our very best.


—Jim Bildner, 5 Boardman Ave., Manchester, MA 01944; (617) 495-6513; jim_bildner@harvard.edu


The first snow has hit the ground on campus, and while not quite as momentous as the government shutdown and startup, it’s another reminder that no matter how crazy Washington is, Mother Nature has her own rhythm to it all. I think most of us would agree that’s a good thing,
Sadly, I recently learned of the death of two of our classmates, Mark Torinus and James Cobb. 
Mark’s career spanned many areas—newspapers, the nonprofit sector, most recently as the president of the Wisconsin Foundation for Independent Colleges. His most prized accomplishment is the College Readiness 21 program, which helped more than 500 minority, low-income or first-generation college students graduate from high school and attend college. By all accounts it was a remarkable program. Our thoughts go out to Mark’s wife and three children. He will be missed by all.
James dedicated his life after Dartmouth and graduate school to teaching and was a long-time social studies teacher in Greenwich, Connecticut, as well as a much-loved sports coach throughout Fairfield County. He will be missed by his daughter, two sons and extended family.
On a happier note, I received an update from Duke Hart, who, as many of you know, received a Tony Award for the musical, Once. Once just launched its national tour in October and Duke’s latest project, The Glass Menagerie, starring Cherry Jones and Zachary Quinto, opened earlier in the fall. Duke’s many credits—film and theater—are impressive. For those who have not seen Once, I highly recommend it. We had the privilege of seeing it in rehearsals in Cambridge, Massachusetts, before it went to Broadway.
Keep those emails coming. Nanc and I send our very best for the holiday season and look forward to seeing you in the new year.
—Jim Bildner, 5 Boardman Ave., Manchester, MA 01944; (617) 495-6513; jim_bildner@harvard.edu



Though the mailbag is light this month, the big news is that many of your classmates have been extremely busy working on our upcoming reunion in June of 2010. Though early, the schedule is quickly taking shape with an opening reception on June 14, followed by a full day of activities and our class dinner on the night of June 15 at the DOC house and a special Livingston Taylor concert that follows. We expect to have a sizeable crowd and Lon Cross and his able committee is working hard to make the reunion memorable. Our class housing will be centered at the McLaughlin Cluster and our tent will be nearby.


Lon and I are always looking for volunteers, so please get in touch with Lon or me if you’d like to join the team. Lon’s e-mail is lcross@lmi.org. I think for those of us who have been working on this, it’s fair to say that we have never had a more focused and organized reunion chair than Lon. Thanks, Lon, for spearheading this effort.


Of equal note is the appearance of the second class newsletter in less than a year. Robert “Simmy” Sinsheimer and his able co-editor Jim Erwin may have set a new class record of two newsletters in a three-year period. If you have postings you’d like to put in the newsletter, just e-mail them to Simmy at rsinsheimer@sinsheimerlaw.com. There are great current (thanks, Simmy) updates from Paul Parsons, Mark Oettinger, Joe Yastrow, Peter Darbee, Rob Calcaterre, Simmy and Robbin Derry (who invites all classmates to join the class of 1975 Facebook site).


Cliff Ennico sent me a copy of his new book, The Legal Job Interview, just published by Kaplan. Cliff practices law in Fairfield, Connecticut, and is the editor of the New York State Bar Association’s handbook on corporations and specializes in the “legal problems of entrepreneurs”—what problems could those be? Don’t all startups succeed? You get the point. In any event it’s a helpful book for those of us with kids applying to law firms. 


Finally, I was up at the College two weeks ago and though we had yet to win a football game and it was snowing, there was a true excitement about Dartmouth’s new president, Jim Yong Kim. He has a bold agenda and it is very student-focused. For more specific information you can find excerpts from his recent talks on the College’s Web site.


Nancy and I look forward to seeing you in June, if not before, and do keep sending those e-mails.


—Jim Bildner, 5 Boardman Ave., Manchester, MA 01944; (617) 737-1100; jbildner@tpi.org


Greetings from sunny Carmel, California, where it’s 55 and dry as I write this. Not bad for early January. Nancy and I just returned from a quick visit to Hanover (where it was 12 degrees with a wind chill of zero). Despite the cold the campus was absolutely beautiful with Christmas lights, snow on the ground and undergraduates in shorts and flip-flops—yes, education is definitely wasted on the young.


On the College front, the early admissions season just finished with the largest pool in the College’s history—1,594, of whom 461 were admitted, 83 of whom are legacies. The large accepted pool was in part driven by a decision to increase the size of the incoming class by about 50 students. Early indications suggest that applications for general admission will again be at the high end of recent years—once again demonstrating the College’s position as one of the leading educational institutions in the world.


As many of you also know Dartmouth, like its Ivy peers, has to close a significant budgetary gap driven in large part by losses in its endowment. Although none of these cuts are desired, I think everyone agrees the president has done a good job balancing out some difficult priorities—and all in all, the College remains well positioned for the long term.


As is usual the mailbag is light (read empty), so I’ll refrain from making things up about each of you—but fair warning, send those e-mails with updates or next column will be a work of creative fiction.


In the meantime know that your reunion committee continues hard at work at making our 35th a special occasion and one worth traveling to. For those of you who may not have marked the date down on your calendar, it begins June 14.


Nancy sends her best, as do I, for a healthy, happy and peaceful new year. We look forward to seeing many of you in June, if not before.


—Jim Bildner, 5 Boardman Ave., Manchester, MA 01944; (617) 737-1100; jbildner@tpi.org


Greetings from reunion central, where our 35th reunion is quickly coming to a close. It’s been a remarkable three-day event and for the 100 or so members of our class and their families it’s been truly wonderful to catch up, spend time together and see how much better we look than the other classes who are up for their reunions. Many thanks go to our own Lon Cross and his dedicated reunion committee for making this happen and for all their hard work on our behalf.


Beginning with Monday night’s informal pizza and beer reception, the activities went into high gear the next morning at 6:30 a.m., when six brave souls biked 21 miles on the river loop. We were all impressed—all two of us who were up when they returned. Sandy Tierney and I had our regular singles squash challenge and though I won’t report the scores, the trend lines are looking more favorable for me then they have in the past (Sandy routinely whips me).


The class next assembled down by the river for our annual class meeting and lunch led by “democracy in action” Scott “Scooter” Lochridge. Demonstrating complete confidence in the work of the executive committee during the past five years, the class approved—in a unanimous voice vote—the entire business agenda before Scott opened his mouth. Among other things, we approved a new class constitution that gives broad powers to the newly installed class officers to declare war, levy taxes—but only against Harvard. The new set of officers are: Lon Cross, president; Chris McConnell, vice president; Judy Geer, treasurer; yours truly, secretary; Bill Rathke and Ron Cima, head agents; Simmy and Jim Irwin, newsletter editors; Stuart Bratesman, webmaster; Tom Dennison, gift planning officer and co-chair of our 40th reunion with David Cook. We all appreciate the hard work done by the retiring officers.


Following the lunch, the newly named ‘1975 Climbing 23’ (23 of the best conditioned athletes you have ever seen) hiked the 4.4 miles up and back from the summit of Moose Mountain. The weather was perfect and except for the mud I managed to find as I fell into it, there were no injuries to report. We promised ourselves that we would make this a reunion tradition (though as I watched some of us tie our shoes, we may need student workers to help us at future gatherings in the bending over part).


We then convened for drinks, dinner and a concert by our newest honorary class member, Livingston Taylor. During the cocktail hour (more like hours), we showed the great slide show that David Lampert put together of our 1970s vintage photos. Though Nancy and I left early the next morning, the party continued unabated with a class lunch with President Kim and the presentation of the class reunion gift (at press time it was approximately $565,000) representing some heavy lifting by our reunion giving chairs Rick Mayberry, Chris McConnell and Judy Geer.


Wednesday night’s dinner featured our classmate Dan Nelson, the director of Dartmouth’s Outdoor Programs (DOC, Skiway, ski team, etc.) and former senior associate dean of the College. Many thanks for doing this, Dan.


—Jim Bildner, 5 Boardman Ave., Manchester, MA 01944; (617) 737-1100; jim_bildner@hks11.harvard. edu


One thing we can all agree upon is that this sure felt like it was one of the longest winters on record if you live on the East Coast (from Maine to Georgia no less) and the driest one on record for decades if you live on the West Coast. As someone who is commuting twice a month, it’s a constant reminder that something profound is happening to our planet.


Before I shovel our walkway for the third time today, I thought I’d share some quick classmate news.


Michael Hutton reports that he has been living in Amherst, Massachusetts, for the last five years with his wife, Rebecca, and stepchildren Gabe, 14, and Emma, 11, and really enjoying the pleasure of parenthood at our age. Rebecca and Michael are traveling a bit this year, taking advantage of Rebecca’s sabbatical this term (she teaches at UMass) and Michael continues his healthcare consulting, research and writing career. Michael also updated us on Rich Laffin (architect, marathon runner, living in Twin Cities) and Fred Cann (lawyer, lives in Portland, Oregon).


Gib Palmer’s press relations operation forwarded me the news that he was recently elected the 35th president of the Virginia State Golf Association. Gib promises free rounds and drinks to any classmates who want to play golf in the State of Virginia. If Gib is not there to meet you, just sign his name on the chit. Congratulations, Gib.


And last, but not least, our 40th is just around the corner—June 12-15. Hope to see you then if not before.


All the best, and do keep those emails coming. 


—Jim Bildner, 5 Boardman Ave., Manchester, MA 01944; (617) 495-6513; jim_bildner@harvard.edu


Another season has come and gone and with it, the days are shorter and nights are cooler. And hope springs eternal in this crazy, complex world we live in.


From the mailbag comes news from Paul Parsons, who clearly is eligible for the most talented, multi-discipline, classmate. I have copied his e-mail without edit, because its full depth stands on its own. We talk about Renaissance men, but here’s the real deal: “My orthopedic practice was bought out by Vanderbilt University. I’m still practicing, but now working for ‘the man.’ No longer taking calls, so have some free time. Published my second novel, Baden-Powell’s Beads: London, earlier this year. The third installment is in editing. Had my first song, ‘Yes Dear,’ released on a CD, Moon over Brooklyn, in N.Y.C. this summer. Artist is Ernie Barry, well known in the city. I’m doing a live performance of the song as an opening for Tim McGraw at a private benefit this summer. Handicap is 7.2. My wife, Sue, and I are healthy and enjoying life in Tennessee and Arizona.” So, I repeat, what could we possibly add to that except well done.


The only other news from classmates is my own. In late June my mom, Joan Bildner ’47 spouse, ’75 parent, ’08 grandparent, died suddenly. She was 82 and lived a remarkable life with my dad, Allen Bildner ’47, Tu’48. They shared 64 years of marriage together, much of the early years at Dartmouth. At my mom’s memorial service, packed with many of their Dartmouth friends both young and old, we told the story of how my 15-year-old mother (we think she was 14, but for obvious reasons, she preferred us to think she was 15) spent a few cold hours one late February night in 1945 on the fire escape of Casque & Gauntlet outside my dad’s room. You see, in those days, the campus police did a routine check nightly to ensure the “boys” were behaving themselves. Needless to say, in 1945, a female “visitor” after 9 p.m. would have been a cause of some concern. As the story goes, my dad greeted Officer “Dusty” with a beer and cigar and entertained him for an hour or so with stories until Dusty decided all was well and it was time for his other duties that night. As Dusty left C&G, my dad quickly helped my then-shivering, future mom climb back through his window to get warm by the fireplace. Many of you might be wondering who would send their 15-year-old daughter to Winter Carnival weekend at Dartmouth, but things were so much simpler in those days. For my mom and dad, the rest was history. We can all only hope that we can live that kind of life.


Well, thanks for indulging me in this column. Don’t waste even a minute in your life. It all matters—at least that’s what someone I loved very much recently told me—and she would know, she never wasted a second. 


—Jim Bildner, 5 Boardman Ave., Manchester, MA 01944; (617) 495-6513; jim_bildner@harvard.edu


Fall at last and at Dartmouth the routines begin once again—another class matriculates, classes begin in earnest, the leaves are just beginning to show their colors and the Dartmouth green is busy again with touch football pickup games, Frisbees flying from all ends of the campus and dogs chasing tennis balls. And there’s even early speculation about a winning football season. Who could ask for more?


An even better, there is real news to report about two of our classmates—both from the world of arts and culture. First, John “Duke” Hart, already an award-winning producer of film and theater, just picked up his latest—a Tony for producing Once, a new musical based on the play of the same name. It’s an incredible work—even more appreciated by those of us who saw it in its early production run in Cambridge at the American Repertory Theatre.


John was up at Harvard last spring and Nancy and I had the chance to see firsthand his talent as the play was developed for its eventual Broadway run. The music and the acting are truly incredible and for those who want to see John’s image in real time, just go to the Tony website and click onto the Once award speech link. When it comes to producing, John is the real deal.


Next, I received a hand-written note (yes, can you believe that people still write personal hand-written notes?) from our own Susan Cory, who has just finished her first mystery novel, Conundrum, now available through Amazon and Barnes and Noble. According to Susan, “It’s about an architect (who could that be?) in Cambridge, Massachusetts (Susan went to Harvard Graduate School of Design) for her 20th graduate architecture school reunion.” Susan promises that since this is a series, Dartmouth may come up in the next plot. Congratulations, Susan.


Stay in touch, so do send those e-mails and handwritten updates in.


—Jim Bildner, 5 Boardman Ave., Manchester, MA 01944; (617) 495-6513; jim_bildner@harvard.edu


Can that be snow on the ground? In what must be the quickest summer and fall on record, snow is appearing on the tops of the mountains as we drive up on Route 89 heading north to yet another Dartmouth football game. We’ve seen a number of classmates over the past few months, including a very mini-reunion dinner with Blake Winchell and Dave Lampert on one of Blake’s recent visits to Boston; and continue to be beaten on the squash court by Sandy Tierney, but still happy to be playing singles squash after all these years. Even Blair Andrews made a near fly-by on his way back from vacation in Maine. We are also increasingly meeting younger classes of Dartmouth alums who are passing through the Crimson empire as they navigate their careers and have to say, they make us all proud of what they are accomplishing in the world. 


In a bit of a personal story—with relevance to all of us—my dad, Allen Bildner ’47, Tu’48, just returned from his 65th Dartmouth reunion in September, when he was joined by some 70 or so other classmates—this is one of the College’s first 65th reunions as they had previously stopped having formal reunions after the 60th year. So for all you plan-ahead folks, mark your calendar for September 12, 2040, that’s just 27 years from now. I think its safe to say that for all those who come, the Hanover Inn will have rooms ready for you.


On a sadder note, I learned during the summer that Michael Hollis, a prominent force in Atlanta for decades, passed away. Michael’s career spanned many spaces, including starting a number of businesses (he founded Air Atlanta as well as companies in the broadcasting, retail and investment sectors) and significant public service—notably as executive director of the Virgin Islands Housing Authority and associate chief counsel to the president’s Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island. Our thoughts go out to his wife, Dena. Michael was an amazing force of nature.


Do keep in touch. Nanc and I hope to see many of you long before September 12, 2040.


—Jim Bildner, 5 Boardman Ave., Manchester, MA 01944; (617) 495-6513; jim_bildner@harvard.edu 


Sometimes fiction actually works. My column from two months ago actually has generated some real news from classmates. So in the interest of space, I will go right to it.


David Kepes checked in with the following news: “Marisela and I have our oldest in his sophomore year at Dartmouth and had the pleasure of joining several classmates in August for a min-reunion of the freshman soccer team, including Frank Gallo, Mike Caldwell and Drew Remignatti.” David is doing some exciting work now, putting together a renewable energy company from abandoned natural gas wells along the Texas Gulf coast. Thanks for checking in, David.


Bob Sullivan sent a note about his new book, A Child’s Christmas in New England: Memories of Seasons Past, published by Bunker Hill Publishing, that will be coming out later in the year. This follows Bob’s earlier book, Flight of the Reindeer. “Sully” is the managing editor of Life Books and continues to pen articles near and far in addition to his books. (For those interested in children’s—or grandchildren’s—books, also take a look at Lighthouse Santa, a book I co-published with UPNE written by Sara Hoagland Hunter ’76 and illustrated by Julie Miner ’76; it’s going into its second printing now.)


Bill “Zorro” Zorn also sent news. This past fall Bill caught up with Scott Mosenthal and his wife, Pam, who were originally on their way to N.Y.C. to see their daughter Kirby run the marathon, but when the marathon was cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy, they came to Manchester, New Hampshire, to run the Manchester marathon. Scotty Mo will be retiring as principal of Irvington High School after a nearly 28-year stint. Well done, Scotty. Bill also reports that he, Jeff Little and Bill Cahill went to a Dave Matthews concert recently and gave each other high-fives for staying the whole concert, including encores. Jeff runs the Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Dain Raucher office. Jeff and Kathy also have been spending time at their Florida home as well. Finally, never known to pass up a free drink, Zorro traveled to Boston to go to the Brown Brothers Harriman Christmas party at the invitation of Digger Donahueand ran into Sandy and Cathy Tierney’sdaughter Caitlin who works for BBH.


For the first time in a very long time, that is not all the news that’s fit to print, just all the news I have room for in this column. Stay well and send info. All our best.


—Jim Bildner, 5 Boardman Ave., Manchester, MA 01944; (617) 495-6513; jim_bildner@harvard.edu


Well if no news is good news, then I can report our class is doing very well since I have no news from classmates to report. Dartmouth on the other hand has had lots of news these days—and all good, the most significant of which has been that Dartmouth received a record number of applications for admissions this year and the class of 2015 (yes, 40 years since 1975) promises to be one of the most competitive in recent memory. With the budget stabilized and the president’s near-term initiatives well under way the campus is moving forward on all cylinders with the difficult budgetary issues in the rear view mirror. 


Though I have no news per se I can report that I have seen Sandy Tierney, David Lampert, Blake Winchell and Steve Gray on recent travels and all are doing well.


For those of you who have not sent news of late, send it along, otherwise I will resort to creative nonfiction in the next column.


Nanc sends her best, as do I. If you’re in the neighborhood, do let us know.


—Jim Bildner, 5 Boardman Ave., Manchester, MA 01944; (617) 737-1100; jim_bildner@hks11. harvard.edu


Dateline: Cambridge Massachusetts, October 29, 2011, 7 p.m.—Despite an all out blizzard complete with howling winds and blowing snow, 35 hard-core classmates and guests sat through a 30-14 Dartmouth-Harvard loss in the first Ivy League night football game in Harvard stadium history. Secretary’s Note: For those wondering what the definition of “hard core” is, Wikipedia defines hard core as “ the members of a group or movement who form an intransigent nucleus resistant to change” (I might add, resistant to rational judgement). Regardless, there is no doubt that the mini-reunion was a big success complete with a pre-game (warm) party at John Harvard’s Brew House on Harvard Square and a post-game buffet dinner (warmer) at Joe’s American Bar & Grill on the waterfront.


This incredible event was the work of Glenn Reed, Brent and Marjean Kimball, Dan Kenslea, Judy Geer, Mark McAleenan and our own feerless leader, Len Cross.I should note that our entire block of 50 tickets was sold out—a function of predicitions of warmer weather; and should also note that apparently Sandy Tierney and I are not hard core, since at the behest of our wives, we watched the game on cable TV. Hats off to the mini-reunion crew, you have set the bar high for next year’s class of 1975 mini “extreme” reunion.


Not much else in the mail, but I did receive a note that Tom Foley was inaugurated in September as the new president of Mount Aloysius College in Pennsylvania. Congrats, Tom.


Nanc and I wish everyone the best of holidays and a happy new year and hope our paths cross before too long. Above all else, lets hope the world gets just a little less dangerous this year—and maybe it’s not too much to also hope that our government can be just a little less dysfunctional.


—Jim Bildner, 5 Boardman Ave., Manchester, MA 01944; (617) 495-6513; jim_bildner@harvard.edu


I’m happy to say the news keeps pouring in. Another column or two and I think we can call it a trend. In any event, it’s great to hear from so many classmates. Political pundits might suggest that this increase in traffic is because, as we approach our 60s, we’re looking to dust up our class legacies. I’m just delighted that folks are writing.


Ron Cima checked in with an update. With spring approaching Ron and Rita are getting ready to re-open their lake house in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. More importantly, in words I hear frequently these days, “the kids keep getting older, but we don’t.” Ron’s youngest, Katherine, a class of ’14 at Dartmouth, moves in to Ron’s old dorm, New Hamp, this spring, and on the same floor where Ron lived 40 years ago. Katherine is an environmental studies major/international relations minor and just completed an internship with the Sierra Club. Ron’s oldest daughter Caroline ’10 starts Columbia Law School in the fall and in Ron’s words “ assures no possibility of retirement for Rita and me in the foreseeable future.” Hope Caroline will look up Lizzie Bildner ’08, who starts Columbia Business School in January. 


Our own class president, Lon Cross, sent me a class save the date for our 40th reunion, which will be held June 12-15, 2014. Reunion co-chairs Dave Cook and Tom Denison are already in the advanced planning phase and are always looking for reunion committee volunteers. E-mail them directly if you want to join the committee.


And Bill Cahill checked in as well. Bill and Wendy are still living the life—skiing actively in the winter (they’re now lifetime members of the famous Franconia Ski Club, working races on weekends) and living in their great house on the lake just outside of Hanover. Wendy works for the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and Bill continues his active healthcare consulting firm helping clients navigate through the many challenges facing the sector in this new regulatory environment. More importantly, his son Pete and new wife Ana are doing well and soon will be moving to Burlington, Vermont, and their daughter Meaghan is truly living the dream in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, as Billy says, “teaching skiing, coaching the racing team and working in the hospitality business.” Bill is our new class Alumni Council representative, taking over for Chris Nice, and this summer Bill is holding class office hours in the best space on campus—he works the info booth on the Green one afternoon a week. 


Well that’s it for now. Keep the news coming. All best.


—Jim Bildner, 5 Boardman Ave., Manchester, MA 01944; (617) 495-6513; jim_bildner@harvard.edu 


Dateline: Cambridge, Massachusetts. April 23. Harvard Yard. Headline: “Harvard Concedes Defeat.” Yes, it’s true. After 245 years of competition Harvard finally and publicly concedes the primacy of green with banners throughout campus proclaiming “The Greening of Harvard” and “The Greening of the Yard.” At first I have to admit that I thought these banners were simply acknowledging my presence on campus, but then I asked some undergraduates what the banners meant and was told, “Being green is the only way to be in the 21st century.” What more can I say? We’ve won, end of story.


Now on to the mailbag. Bob Sullivan, our own award-winning writer, author and commentator, sent word of two new projects he’s working on—one a nonfiction memoir and the other a Christmas reminiscence. Sully’s body of work is incredible, as is his lifelong commitment to journalism. He is a 31-year veteran of Time Inc. publications and is now the editorial director of Life Books, based in New York City. Prior to joining Life, Bob was a reporter, writer and editor at Sports Illustrated for 12 years. 


I also heard from Rickey Jamerson, who sent a note that he has fully recovered from prostate cancer. That is great news.


On a much sadder note, I just received notices of the untimely death of two classmates, Rick Walker of Elkins, New Hampshire, and Al Finn of Stafford, Vermont. 


Rick spent his life trying to make life better for those around him, most recently having founded with his wife, Cass, the Road to Responsibility, a nonprofit that helps support individuals with developmental disabilities. In 1998 they were recognized for this work as Entrepreneurs of the Year for the New England region. Our thoughts are with Cass and Rick’s three children, Alec, Lydia and Emma.


Al spent his life teaching—first at the Nichols School in Buffalo, New York, then on to Governors Academy in Byfield, Massachusetts, the Blue Mountain School in Strafford, Vermont, and most recently to Oxbow High School in Bradford, Vermont. Al loved Strafford and was a leader in his community. Our prayers go out his wife, Courtney, and his family. 


The message for all of us should be clear—we need to make the most of everyday. Nanc sends her best, as do I. We hope to see you this summer if your travel brings you to New England.


—Jim Bildner, 5 Boardman Ave., Manchester, MA 01944; (617) 737-1100; jim_bildner@hks11.harvard.edu


Will have much more to report on in next month’s column following this weekend’s upcoming Dartmouth-Harvard game and our class of ’75 mini-reunion championed by our president and logistical expert, Lon Cross. It should be a great night (it is Harvard’s first-ever football night game) so stay tuned for lots of classmate news in my next report.


On the mail front, at long last Dave Spicer reported in with a long, very inspiring update, the edited version of which appears below:


“Finally got around to actually reading the Vox ’75. I still have some of my bad habits from Dartmouth, like reading required course materials the night before the final exam. For the Dartmouth pals who knew me best, they are still amazed I actually was allowed to graduate. Best friend classmates who believed that include Lee Gotshall-Maxon, George Whitley, Larry Habegger and James O’Reilly—we had a hellatiously incredible time together and remain close friends to this day.


“So here is what is going on with me. Two great kids Chris (29) and Casey (24). Both doing great. For me personally, I am happily married to Marti after 33 years and we have a great life together. I also have three ongoing careers. First I am in my 31st year as an attorney with a part-time law practice out of my home, having formally left the law as full-time lawyer of a law firm I helped start back in May 2005. My full-time career is now with Agros International (www.agros.org), where I have worked for more than five years now. I work with extremely poor rural farmers in Central America and Mexico. In a nutshell I help develop new villages that are all encompassing thriving communities after about five to seven years of development work. Families have to pay back land loans and our repayment rate is 92 percent. I engage in strategic planning, take major donors on trips, clean the bathrooms, do the dishes, etc. In the nonprofit world you live on the margin and I easily work as hard as the days when I was a very busy trial lawyer (however, not under the same pressures).


“Finally, my volunteer passion is working on water projects through Rotary in the developing world. Huge, huge need. Primarily work in Africa and Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Nigeria, though I have also directed projects in El Salvador and Nicaragua and consulted on water projects in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iraq, Peru and others. I have been working on water projects for 15 years and now have completed 32 water projects for an estimated 35 villages and an estimated 250,000 people and large numbers of livestock.


“If any fellow mates get to Seattle, would love to have coffee with you so give me a holler, dspicer@davespicerlaw.com.”


David, thanks for sending this along and for all the great work you do.


Well that’s all the news that’s fit to print for now. Look for more news in the next column following our mini-reunion. In the meantime, keep those e-mails coming. Nanc sends her best, as do I.


—Jim Bildner, 5 Boardman Ave., Manchester, MA 01944; (617) 495-6513; jim_bildner@harvard.edu