Book Power

Congratulations for this issue [“The Power of Books,” July/August], which takes the magazine to an entirely new level. By focusing on various aspects of a single topic, and with the input of such a wide range of alumni—authors, editors, collectors—you’ve taken us beyond the usual mix of campus news and celebrity alumni profiles, with inspirational new perspectives on what a previously unheralded group of alumni are up to. This focus and format are welcome and a terrific model.

HIRAM S. (CHIP) CODY III ’70
New York City

Delightful issue. Best in a long time. I taught at Phillips Exeter for 40 years and love books, so all in the issue was close to my heart. Do that again. Or some other themed issue. Thanks.

JACK HERNEY ’65
Stratham, New Hampshire

I thought the latest issue covered the spectrum on writing and publishing brilliantly. Good topics, good subjects, good breadth. All nicely done.

I thought I might add—as a former law professor who has been teaching Shakespeare since prior to retirement—a few words on your coverage of Shakespeare’s First Folio [“The Bard’s Play Book”].

Recently, I visited the  Rauner Special Collections Library to view the book. It is thrilling to be in the presence of one of the two most significant books in English literature. Most moving, however, was the simple way I could, by simply asking to see it, have it brought and put on a table and left for me, for as long as my wife and I liked. Other schools and libraries have been far more paranoid. Thank you, Dartmouth. You do me proud.

ART LaFRANCE ’60
Portland, Oregon

Books are important and powerful. They have been especially important and powerful in my life as I was a public library director for 35 years. There is an important story in America right now about school and public libraries coming under attack for the books on their shelves. This seems to be the real, and painful, story to me: how many Americans are turning against books, and academia as well. 

Frankly, the story you covered in this issue about a Dartmouth graduate being a bestselling author, the recommendations of a few books by some Dartmouth professors, and a Dartmouth graduate book collector seemed a bit beside the point. It made me think of a new word—“Dartmouthland”—a place where things and ideas are only important because of their attachment to Dartmouth.

JIM SUTTON ’69
Andover, Massachusetts

Bliss

We all know the name Joseph Campbell, class of 1925, and honor him with great reverence. If I knew years ago that Campbell was an alum, I had forgotten. I am thrilled to be reminded today through your article [“Endnote,” July/August]. Huge thank you! We dancers especially pay tribute to him for being married to Jean Erdman, principal dancer with Martha Graham. I studied with Graham. For me and for so many, Erdman was a significant name and role model. Through her, we dancers felt an intimacy and affinity for the work and words of Campbell.

It is a treat of treats to understand Dartmouth’s connection to Campbell’s legacy. No question that there is something about Dartmouth that instills a sensibility about humanity that distinguishes the campus from so many others. Maybe the four seasons? Maybe it is the quiet isolation that fosters retrospection and deep thought? Who knows. But alums such as Joseph Campbell shine a light on the principles the College holds dear.

MARIANNE H. HRAIBI, ADV ’08
Saint Johnsbury, Vermont

Criminal Behavior

As a child of the 1960s, attorney, retired police officer, and government major, I have a different view on the uproar over President Beilock’s decision to remove the “peaceful” protest from the Green [“Your Turn,” July/August].

First, those arrested were committing a crime, whether it be trespassing after notice or failure to disperse. They may have been peaceful in doing so, but many crimes are committed peacefully, including theft, fentanyl distribution, distribution of child pornography, etc. 

Second, accepting punishment one considers to be unjust is at the core of civil disobedience. Have the complainers never heard of Socrates? Have they never read Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” or Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail?”

However, I groaned when I saw the BearCat armored car and riot gear in the photo. I would have staged the heavy equipment nearby out of sight to be brought in if necessary. Still, there is a school of thought that a strong showing of force precludes violence.

PHILIP MAGNUSON ’75
Brewster, Massachusetts 

John Roberts ’57 wrote that he objected to Dartmouth’s action whereby certain protesters were arrested last fall [“Your Turn,” March/April]. He has a 32-year history as executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, and he claimed the protesters had simply exercised their “constitutionally protected” rights of free speech. President Beilock  [“Students Arrested,” January/February] stated the students “threatened in writing to ‘escalate’ and take further action, including ‘physical action,’ if their demands were not met.” Roberts wrote that “unless the threats are enacted in immediate response to their words,” well, it’s all okay as constitutional free speech.

I am no attorney. But we have learned in the last few years that not all speech is protected. This threat sounds to me like the dictionary definition of “assault”—
assault is the threat, battery is the actual act, if it occurs. The Cornell Law website says the definition of assault is “an intentional act that puts another person in reasonable apprehension of immediate harmful or offensive contact.” Do we really have to wait to call the police until someone is killed or physically injured? With due respect to the ACLU, I think not. All these assault laws are still on the books across the country, so I surmise the ACLU lost that battle.

BOB SANNER ’67
Palo Alto, California

Equal Opportunity

I was extremely impressed by the accomplishments of Gail Koziara Boudreaux ’82 and her outlook on life [“Continuing Ed,” March/April], but as presented here, she seems to limit her mentoring to women. If that is so, it is a shame to deprive men of that experience.

PHIL BAILY ’62
Temecula, California