1929
In a Class which boasts many successful members of the medical profession you need not be in ill health to gain their attendance. It's much more pleasant just to fall in convivially with Dave Cogan or spend an evening with Uncle Frank Foster.
Right now Dave is still somewhat bewildered over the continued run of luck that has dealt him four of a kind: four daughters, the youngest less than three weeks old as he told the story of his full house this evening. In addition to his paternal achievements Dave is Director of the Howe Laboratory of the Harvard Medical School, located at the Massachusetts Charitable Eye & Ear Infirmary of the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. This project is devoted to ophthalmic research, and because of its ready access to the multitude of patients who crowd the nearby clinics serves as a valuable bridge between the academic and practical in the field of diseases of the eye. During the war the Laboratory did special research for the Navy on a variety of problems such as the optics of range finders and the effect of gases on the eye.
Dave received his M.D. from Harvard in 1932. In addition to his directorship of the Laboratory he has been since 1941 associate professor of Ophthalmic Research at Harvard Medical School. He is a member of the American Board of Ophthalmology & the American Academy of Ophthalmology & Otolaryngology.
And as for Dr. Foster—well his story will either spur you on to valiant efforts to recapture your virility or discourage you to accept middle age abjectly and inevitably. He was a Colonel, Army Air Forces, stationed somewhere in the temperate zone when all of a sudden he found himself one of four dedicating four months of precious life to research —by-actual-experience in the final phases of arctic research and rescue procedures. His status was an exalted one; he represented the Air Surgeon. So was his position: 15,000 feet above sea level in the Mt. McKinley area of the Alaska Range. But he had good companions. Brad Washburn was the leader, and BobMcKennan '25 was there as the representative of ADTIC. Flown in on a glacier they withstood temperatures which ranged from 10 to 40 below, travelling in daylight strung together against the hazards of hidden crevices and digging in at night to lay a flooring for their tent four feet below the snow surface in an effort to gain protection from the roaring gales which in spite of their efforts would curl down into their shelters and bounce them around in their sleeping bags like corn in a hot popper. But this is no place nor am I the reporter to do justice to the story. Uncle Frank will tell it to us some day. Suffice to say that he is back home; living in West Newton, praticing with the Lahey Clinic; and in as tip-top shape as a man needs to be to sleep with icicles for 4 months on end.
Having luncheon with Ollie Holmes at one of his Schrafft's restaurants is not only satisfying but educational as well. Sitting there eating a steak sandwich Ollie will tell you just where the meat was purchased, how much it cost and the exact percentage of price increase since the demise of OPA. As Schrafft's Boston Purchasing Director, Ollie knows his market; and now that those days are gone, we hope, forever, it can be told how he used to bring his own special supply of butter for the '29 table at the annual dinners. At the moment Ollie is arranging the annual class cocktail party and reception for John Dickey on the evening of the annual dinner to be held February 26.
Here in Boston it is becoming increasingly necessary for some of us to pay attention to our figures. The downtown Health Club includes a number of 'agers in its membership, with Trapper Bryant and Herm Liss ranking number 1 and 2 among the Squash players. Johnnie is a manufacturer of chemicals, principally for textiles and Herm is head of the Bond Department of Scudder, Stevens and Clark. Needless to say, both are in ruddy good health.
Doc O'Connor '12, reports a pleasant visit with Dick Rogers on a recent trip to Los Angeles where Dick is hard at work with the United-Rexall Company.
It seems that Jack Brabb (of the Silver Horn) really started something when he mentioned the athletic talents of his son. The first retort comes from Duke Barto, as follows: "While I realize that I am a' completely unsatisfactory correspondent as regards the Class Notes, I can not resist calling Jack Brabb's brag concerning the football prowess of his son. So here goes: My boy, John, not only was a star of his prep school football team last season but has been elected captain for next season. How about that, Jack?"
Jack Gunther, General Counsel for Air Reduction Company, has a pretty good job if the following is any indication: "I made a trip to Houston, Texas, last month on company business with an opportunity to squeeze in a duck shoot at Eagle Lake. Among other pleasantries, I attended a cocktail party and had the pleasure of talking with very delightful mothers of Dartmouth sons, who had entertained our president, John Dickey, on his sweep, and I mean "sweep" through Texas. John had endeared himself to everyone he met and in an effortless manner convinced everyone that the college was in good hands."
Jim Loeb, National Director of the Union for Democratic Action, was the moving spirit behind the meeting held early in January which resulted in the formation of the Americans for Democratic Action, a new liberal organization which stresses its rejection of communists. A.DA. elected Leon Henderson and Wilson Wyatt temporary co-chairmen, and chose Jim as its Secretary-Treasurer.
Ed McGibbon has just announced the formation of the law firm of Robertson and McGibbon with offices at 134 South LaSalle Street, Chicago.
Secretary, 75 Federal St., Boston, Mass. Treasurer, 1211 Shady Ave., Pittsburgh 10, Pa.
ANNUAL NEW YORK DINNER, APRIL l6 HOTEL COMMODORE AT 6:30 P.M.
