Class Note 1964

Tim Brooks writes, “Most of us—okay, all of us—remember WDCR, the campus radio station that in the 1960s woke us in the morning, blared out of dormitory windows after we crammed at night, relaxed us with Music ’Til Midnight. We first heard of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the assassination of JFK over WDCR.” Broadcasting on campus remains strong today, despite many changes. First, WDCR-AM is no more. It’s become Internet station www.webdcr.com, and you should check it out. In 1976 companion station WFRD-FM (99.3) was launched and it is now an Upper Valley powerhouse. Tim reports, “Guy ‘Rock’ MacMillin, a top disc jockey on the afternoon Swinghouse and late-night Music ’Til Midnight shows, went on to teach at Vermont Academy and then became editorial page director for The Keene Sentinel. Guy passed away in 2017. Al McKee, the general manager, served in Vietnam, where he recruited me for a shift on Armed Forces Radio Saigon! Later, in the foreign service, he rose to the rank of ambassador. Dave Shipler, DCR’s program director, became an award-winning reporter for The New York Times and author of bestselling books on Russia and poverty in America. He has also served as a Dartmouth trustee. Bill Craig, the business manager, became an attorney specializing in real estate and environmental law, and Ted Gerbracht, the technical wizard, earned an M.B.A., two master’s degrees, and a Ph.D. and eventually became global security officer for an international banking organization. His second career has been in religious work.” Tim was the administrative director of WDCR and went into television, supervising audience research for the NBC, USA, and Lifetime networks, among others. He has written nine books on media history, including College Radio Days, about Dartmouth Broadcasting. He says, “It won’t sell as many copies as Dave’s books, but to paraphrase Daniel Webster, who never got to hear Dartmouth radio, ‘There are those who love it.’ ” Given our class initiative on teaching leadership, the next edition of notes will focus on the leadership insights and experiences of classmates who served as members of Palaeopitus.

—G. Jay Evans, 274 New Aldrich Road, Grantham, NH 03753; gjevans222@gmail.com