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May 2004
WE
LOVE IT WHEN A PLAN
COMES TOGETHER ....
As this newsletter goes in the mail to
A few changes in the materials currently in your hands:
-HERB HILLMAN has agreed to handle the tennis activities.
KATHY FAST, thankfully, is in a
recuperative phase from surgery and
STEVE needs to be on hand with her
instead of settling arguments about
lets and outs. Herb is at herbannhil@aol.com; (802) 253-4538
-the 50th Class Address will be delivered at the Saturday luncheon by
DAVE McLAUGHLIN, while my comments will come at the Saturday banquet.
My topic, Musings of a Newsletter Editor may be expanded to include
Lamentations of a Reunion Treasurer.
-the
-RON DUNTON is scrambling, trying to gather a semblance of the Sultans
for some tent sounds. MIKE BIGGS won’t be with us, so the pickin’s are
slender.
BILL WHITE and WAYNE WEIL have done it! The 50th Book has been put to bed
with more than 350 Classmates’ submissions included. The Book should be in the
hands of those providing sketches by late May. While a number of generous
Classmates have stepped and underwritten a goodly portion of the cost of the
Book, each recipient will be asked (nicely) to chip in.
DON and JOIE KELLER have done a little neatening of their lives: “In
December, we sold our
DOUG HOSKINS has added to his “artificial parts” with the replacement
of a knee banged u in an auto accident in 1952. He and JOYCE dodged the harsh
MARILYN and DICK GRASSEY celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in
After teaching law at
STAN ROSENBERG has joined the “Over the hill Club” in an effort to
find old people who will ski with him. Sounds like he’s doing just fine with
younger schussers - Vail in December and freezing
Rev. DAVE RANSOM has joined JOE MESICS in noting my incorrect use of
“enervate” when I should have written “energize”. Dave, however,
ventures out on a tack that takes the newsletter to a new level. Read carefully
- there will be test at the 50th: “It happens, too, as Philip Pullman’s
millennial cusp trilogy, ‘His Dark Materials’, recalls in describing
‘specters’ or as we may remember in sitting, unmotivated, with pencil in
hand before the best of lecturers or especially vapid presentations, or as one
may experience in hearing the shallow or ‘cheerleading’ types of news
commentary on radio or television and by columnists, or even in the risk of
reconnecting with a classmate.. I find that moment of enervation to be a
judgment against my own ego and possible dullness or plain tiredness, and, when
accepted, a portal to an exciting encounter. We hope that many ‘54s and
families will also accept their fears of moments of even conscious enervation
and prepare to discover the wealth of life that a reunion event can allow.
Our warring world needs the sort of reconnaissance and discovery efforts
which a reunion can provide. Yet, one becomes just plain tired, too, and needs
‘space’, so perhaps the reality of ‘enervate’ is needed as an indication
of the birth of a new energy.”Certainly words to be re-read ....
BOB SPEARS: “Enjoying life in beautiful
Professor BOB WHITE is teaching a Creative Writing class at the Council
on Aging in his community. Interesting
thought. Who has more life experiences, opinions, perspective than those who
have lived the longest? Guiding seniors into the creative arena, then handing
them the tools to develop and exercise their natural talents for expression has
to be a most rewarding way to spend one’s days. DELDA continues to serve as
church organist and choir director in
Letters to the Editors
As a Class, we are beginning to dominate the front part of the Dartmouth
Alumni Magazine with our objections, alternate opinions and independent
thoughts. In the Mar/Apr issue, DOUG
DODGE asked why the dean of Pluralism’s comment that “
DANA LOW, who is one of only two Classmates to have traversed the entire
length of the
JOHN CUNNINGHAM spent last December and January commuting to the Long
Wharf Theater in
In submitting his write-up for the Book, CHARLES “PETE” DAVIS
commented: “I deliberately refrained from digressing into
areas of philosophy and
politics, realizing that the Reunion Book was not meant to be filled entirely
with MY writings.” Pete also included a neat little couplet, ascribed to Kevin
Welch: “
There’ll be two dates on your tombstone,
and all your
friends will read ‘em,
but all that’ gonna
matter is,
that little
dash between ‘em.
PETE KENYON spent a little time on the phone with BILL REX (coming to
reunion) and determined that the Rex’s split their time between two totally
delightful locations,
JOAN ADAMS and the fisherman she regards as her husband, JIM, reported in
March that they were “resting up” on the beautiful
I still hear occasionally from JOEL LASKY in
Related story. A decade ago,
when i got into Masters throwing events, I found a tee-shirt that had a seated
athlete, in a Rodin-style pose, surrounded by throwing implements (shot, discus,
javelin, hammer, weight) and the slogan “I throw, therefore I am.” Wary that
a 260 pound shot-putter would brace me and demand to know the Latin for the
slogan (like Sartre’s “Scio ergo sum”), I sought out DAVE SICES, retired
head of the Romance Languages Department for advice.
We jointly rejected “hurlio” as being
too reminiscent of early Freshman year experiences with too much gin and finally
settled on “iacio”, ergo “Iacio ergo Sum.”Dave and JACQUELINE are nicely
retired to Chapel Hill, NC where they have free run of three university
libraries and facilities . Professor
Sices continues to maintain hopes for the life of the mind.
The following from SHELLY WOOLF bears a verbatim recital: “Just wanted
to let you know that i am now in the Football Hall of Fame. I was talking to RON
DOUGHERTY at this past February’s ‘54 golf outing in
“Ron then talked about the place and mentioned that it is located in
“Jim asked where we were going and if we’d mind dropping him off at
the hospital o he could see his wife. The ride was long enough to hear his
philosophy of life, the value he put on competition and to gain his
encouragement to us to play fair and hard at whatever we did. If it had been a
script for a Knute Rockne movie, it couldn’t have been better. Thorpe died a
year later.
“Ron loved the story and had it videotaped when I was in
We lost IRWIN HERRMAN in 1995. At the time, the newsletter reported the
magnificent tribute that had been paid Irwin for the extraordinary contributions
he had made to education in
If you are a television watcher, you have, on occasion been told to :
“Ask your doctor about ..... (a drug)”.
In February, JAY DAVIS was a member of a distinguished panel at The Tuck
School, discussing the escalating trend of direct-to-consumer advertising of
prescription drugs. An article in the Connecticut Valley Spectator about the
discussion began with the example of drugs for erectile dysfunction and a
television ad with the symbolic imagery of a football being thrown through a
suspended automobile tire. Jay was quoted often and the article mentioned that
he had been the managing director of the world’s largest medical advertising
agency at the time of the introduction of both Nicorette and Seldane (later
Allegra). The campaign for Seldane -
“.. you can put your symptoms to sleep and still stay awake” took sales of
the drug from $30 million to $800 million. The
descriptions of the changing relationships between doctors and patients today
can probably be acknowledged by most of you reading this story. Good topic for
chatter at the reunion Class tent.
Here’s another delightful PenPal story from LARRY TAYLOR: “For me
and, indeed, for my wife JEAN, the program has been a great success. Our penpals,
D. Bradley Bate and Chelsea Lane-Miller write often and with enthusiasm via
email. We’ve exchanged numerous messages and cards. Brad and Chelsea were a
good match for me as both of them are active in the DOC and outdoor activities
and are involved with environmental issues.
“Brad and Chelsea are very involved in campus activities and described
to us their many experiences. They clearly were interested in my Dartmouth
experiences too. I was impressed with how polite and gracious they have been to
me and Jean and they clearly sowed genuine interest and respect for us oldies.
“We had the opportunity to meet
“I was able to give Brad an idea for the Carnival sculpture and
provided him, visa the Internet, with photos of the ‘53 and ‘54 sculptures.
Brad, among others, successfully revived student participation in this project
after a lack of interest over recent years.
“I am sure that we will continue correspondence with Brad and Chelsea
after they graduate.” Sounds like the perfect embodiment of what the PenPal
program was meant to be. The matching of common interests was an obvious plus in
this case.
Class Connector JAY DAVIS on ‘54 skiing: “We had our best turnout yet
for the
In Memoriam
GRANT JOSEPH GRUEL, JR.
“Joe” Gruel died in
First, let me suggest that you read his Reflections submission of 25
years ago, just to bring you up to the speed of this most extraordinary man.
Thanks to both SKIP WEYMOUTH and DICK BARKER, I have two articles on
Grant (he apparently shucked off “Joe” somewhere along the line) and have
chosen the more lively one to celebrate his life - from the Grand Rapids Press:
“In the courtroom, Grant Gruel’s head always was in the game. He
exuded confidence and his cut-to-the chase questioning style kept jurors
interested. But the man so passionate about law was among the most
down-to-earth, connecting with people in an uncanny way, whether on the golf
course or with his grandchildren, his widow said.
‘Within his grandeur, he was a modest man’, said MARY E. HOLLAND
GRUEL from their winter home in
Mr. Gruel was long considered one of the state’s top trial attorneys.
Some two weeks prior to his passing, he dictated a letter to his wife: ‘Every
remaining day gives me additional insight into the elements of
love, friendship and the essence of life’, he said. “
The article goes on to say that some of his golfing buddies, at his
request, are planting two very troublesome Pin Oaks on the second hole at
Cascade Country Club in his honor - one that will bring Joe to mind when less
than straight drives are rejected by the trees.
Grant’s law firm accepted trial cases from both sides of process and
fought with might to win for their clients. Grant’s most famous case involved
his defense of a police detective charged with the shooting of his wife, a
judge. He won the case, based on a “befogged with alcohol” premise, but the
detective went to jail anyhow for firing at the police in the aftermath of the
killing. Grant told the press that he didn’t sweat the case - “Trials have
never been a heavy stress item for me.”
One of his partners reported that Grant slowed in his work in the late
90s and quietly retired in 2002. “He loved the law and everything it meant. He
just enjoyed the whole process of it. So we feed off that, too. He taught us
many things.”
Grant is survived by his wife, Mary, four children from previous
marriages, his wife’s children and three grandchildren.
PGBarker54@aol.com
(203) 661-7611
June 1954. Cliff Evans' marriage to Mary-Anne Treene
was overrun by 54's
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