1932
By good fortune I was able to arrange a trip to New York City just at the time of a class dinner (March 16) at the Dartmouth Club. This was a wives-included affair, adding spice to the company but probably accounting in part for Jay Whitehall's telling a clean story, prefaced by a certain amount of apology on the ground that, after all, it was funny. Physician Modarelli was in his usual fine form (also clean, however). He- took advantage of the date, just past the income tax deadline, to point out what skillful operators Einstein's parents were. It seems Albert's birthday is just three days before income tax day. What a time to give birth to a child like Einstein, born with a silver slide rule in his mouth—says Modarelli.
The New York City contingent, at least as reflected in the group present that night, comprises a group that .might be described as up and coming, successful young men. Among the lawyers, most are partners in good, substantial firms. John Couzens, besides his law practice, is pushing ahead in the political picture in Yonkers, as has been reported here before. Marv Chandler is the Chandler of Reis & Chandler, Inc., of 30 Vesey Street, advisers and experts on investment matters. While I can't say that anyone seemed to be a Democrat, they were all most tolerant. Maxwell, Lavine,Zinggeler, Chandler, Modarelli, Wentworth and Couzens were accompanied by their wives. Also present were George Collins, Jay Whitehair, Sam Englander, George Dyche, and myself, and I must add, a client of one of the lawyers. She also added to the spice.
John and Mary Couzens reported the arrival on August 27, 1948, of another Mary Jane, their first child, an event we should have been glad to herald with congratulations at the but better late than never.
You will note that I referred to the group as "young men." After seeing "The Setup", in which Bob Ryan stars, I realize that we are supposed to be at something of a turning point in that respect. I get to the movies very seldom, and therefore I try to select only those that I expect will give me the kind of entertainment I look for from Hollywood. Frankly I want to see only good, unreal, escapist shows, with plenty of good-looking people living on unrevealed sources of large wealth, spouting very clever lines, and ending up extremely happy. That's because I go in order to get relief from cerebration. Perhaps some of Bob Ryan's pictures are or will be like that, but I can see that his talents are and are recognized as such that he is given real roles, representing people who might be met in this none-too-simple world. In one of the most recent purported interviews with Bob, he is reported to have said that "a picture must be one thing or the other—realism or make-believe People know they can't live any longer in a dream world." He went on to describe "The Setup" which is realism only: "In this one there is no compromise with anything. It's about a fighter who is a has-been. In fact, he's a guy who never was; he has never made the grade as a fighter, but still wants to show his gal he can be great. All of the story takes place in a space of 72 minutes, and runs exactly that long on the screen. In that respect it's something like 'Rope'." I found it like 'Rope' in another respect, too: there was nothing pleasurable or relaxing in the whole 72 minutes. I don't mean to say it wasn't good, or that it wasn't well done. The story was gripping, plausible, and challenging. Bob was absolutely magnificent, and he was the whole picture. He made that poor old fighter very, very real. And the fight was so real that the man sittting behind me exclaimed "Oof!" when Bob landed one particularly telling blow. But you can understand how I felt about the picture, in the light of what I just said, when I point out that the ending, which was supposed to be a happy note, was happy only because at last the gal (his wife, I guessed) is getting her way, and he won't fight any more, because his good right hand has been smashed by a brick wielded by a vicious little gambling gangster who lost his shirt because Bob's character wouldn't give up and let a frame-up succeed.
All that last paragraph was just a warm-up to the real point, which is that reference to us as "young men." Bob was portraying an aging fighter, already 35. N0ow I'm full ready to admit that in lively sports, like boxing, 35 is past the prime, but I don't find any of us ready to admit to being old yet. And the way Bob looked in his fighting trunks made him the first to refute the suggestion. He certainly looked hard and lithe, the way, without doubt, most of us do not look. He's kept in shape, and if any of you who aren't too proud of the seaside figure you cut in bathing trunks want to escape from reality, take a look at Bob in that picture and point out that he's no younger than you are, yourself.
I gather from the newspapers that Bob now has two sons, ages 3 and 1.
Carl Baker does so much interesting writing and lecturing that his picture appears in the papers fairly regularly. Now, I haven't seen Carl for several years, and maybe his figure would not bear reproduction. But that's no reason why these head and shoulder pictures can't be up-to-date. I'm sure the cut that appeared in a Cleveland paper on March 17 was based on a 1931 proof. Is all that hair still there, Carl? The picture was in connection with a talk Carl was to give before the Northern Ohio Princeton Alumni Association on the subject of "Princeton in Princeton's Service"—at least that's what the paper said. Anyone who thinks it must have been "Dartmouth in Princeton's Service" is welcome to express his views freely.
Chuck Hall reported attendance at a "First Freedom Forum" at Flarding College, Arkansas, last month. It was a meeting of a group of people from various walks of life, mostly business men and educators, to equip members to "spread efficiently a better understanding of the American way of life." It sounds like a wonderful idea, because what the world needs everywhere is more understanding of all ways of life. If we fully understand our own, we'll be better able to understand others.
That leads us around neatly to the Dartmouth Alumni Fund. A year ago I suggested that for those who thought a college like Dartmouth important as one means to the achievement of the kind of world we want can find it easy to justify a little extra sacrifice to contribute to it. I think Dartmouth is such a means and does help toward understanding of the world and its problems. Even if Dartmouth doesn't achieve perfection in this respect, it comes far closer than most other institutions. For that reason I'm prepared to make an advance, down payment on the cost of tuition for some future citizens, maybe including my son, who, I am confident, will be more likely, as a result of a Dartmouth education, to think independently and cherish democracy if Dartmouth is able to keep along the paths it seems to be following now. Let's try to push our record up a0gain this year: everyone give something, a little more than before.
Secretary, 3909 North sth St., Arlington, Va.
Treasurer, 607 Front St., Hempstead, N. Y.
Class Agent, 344.8 81st St., Jackson Heights, L. 1., N. Y.
