Class Note 1984
“Green Acres is the place to be….” With that intro and memorable refrain from our familiar collective youth, allow me to examine the distinct divide between folks who prefer the slower-paced country lifestyle to those more enamored with the faster lifestyle of the city. From Eddie Albert’s “country” vantage Paul Bonucci writes, “After 17 months of commuting between home of nine years in Augusta, Georgia, and job and family farm in north central Illinois, we’ve now re-settled in Princeton, Illinois. My wife, Jan, is reconnecting with people she has known since grade school. My son Daniel is a high school sophomore and my daughter Ellie is in eighth grade. Everyone is adapting to winter temperatures and snow—complete with snow days and snowmobiles. I’m the medical director and practice emergency medicine at our local hospital. Recently John Buehler and I were guests of Tom Lubin at the first Bears-Packers game of this season. Our seats were at the 50-yard line, about eight rows in front of NFL Hall of Famer Gale Sayers. It was a great get-together and an exciting Bears win. I occasionally see Adam Webber, a minister here in Princeton, with his wife, Kelly, and their two children Fern and Fox.”
This from country bumpkin Chuck Goss: “All is well. Just trying to get companies to relocate or expand in New Hampshire. Doing a little skiing the mountains, rowing the lakes and hunting the woods up here. Turning into an ‘emmet’ since my old farm needs constant attention. Thankfully my tractor has a drink holder. My only child is applying to the University of Denver and other schools just to ensure that our Dartmouth legacy dies with me.”
Now from Zsa Zsa Gabor’s “city” point of view, Susan Schoenberger, living in West Hartford, Connecticut, has published her first novel, A Watershed Year, which received the gold medal in the 2006 William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition. Susan has been a journalist since 1984 at various newspapers, including The Baltimore Sun, The News and Observer and The Hartford Courant. She began writing fiction seriously after attending the Wesleyan Writers Conference in 2001. She is currently working on her second novel.
In the very large city of Los Angeles producer Alix Madigan’s haunting and beautiful film Winter’s Bone received four nominations for this year’s Academy Awards—best actress, best supporting actor, best adapted screenplay and best picture! Congratulations, Alix!
Also in L.A., Dani Klein Modisett writes, “Look for my feature story in the March issue of Parents magazine called ‘I’m Jealous of My Kids,’ in which I’m completely kidding, of course. I also recently launched the spin-off of my first book Afterbirth: Stories You Won’t Read In a Parenting Magazine. It’s called Not What I Signed Up For, which features outrageously funny and honest stories about a time you wanted to leave your committed relationship and didn’t. But the greatest triumph will be figuring out a summer schedule for my 3- and 7-year-olds where I am not in the car five hours a day.” Dani balances her busy professional career with a family life consisting of her husband, Tod ’94, and aforementioned boys Gideon and Gabriel.
—Jan Gordon and Derek Chow, 132 Wildcat Lane, Boulder, CO 80304; (303) 448-1580; janandderek @comcast.net
