1916
As I sit down to write this, under strict injunctions from the editor-in-chief to keep it brief and condensed, I am mindful that it will be difficult to do otherwise if you guys don't send me in some news.
Larry Hayward wrote me as one cheerful cardiac to another, mentioning a letter of admission he got from Jack English, to the Lazy Life of Riley Club, which Larry terms a "priceless piece of literature." I am anxious to see this, as jobs are piling up on me, and I haven't even had time to remove the gigantic spider which now blocks the road from our backyard into Betty's tomato patch, a big scaly, canary-yellow brute as large as a mouse, who tosses big grasshoppers around like Gus Sonnenberg used to toss around rasslers. Getting this particular spider to leave peaceably will be a major project for the autumn. Larry was getting ready for a final month at Rye Beach, after the hectic weekends of summer, and mentioned having a bull session with Cliff Bean and Milt Peipul over this season's prospects.
A clipping from the Southern CaliforniaReview, published by the educational institution of the same name, has a front cover picture of Dean Earl Cranston, complete with smile, wristwatch and collegiate tie. Attached was a reprint of an article entitled "School of Religion Fulfills Community Need" and the subtitle, "As the only accredited Protestant seminary in this region, the SC School of Religion trains ministers and religious workers for thousands of churches in Southern California." I quote one passage from the article:
"It is easy to assume that the man who is presently guiding the SC School of Religion has a broad, rich background from which to draw his liberal religious and educational philosophy. Earl Cranston has had such experience. Educated at Dartmouth, Drew, Union, Columbia and Harvard, Cranston was an Army ambulance driver in Italy during World War I. Later he was a Methodist missionary in China and rubbed elbows with devotees of various Chinese religions. He returned to the States and wrote his doctor's dissertation on Chinese Buddhism, returning to China in 1926 where he met his wife, an American doing similar church work. He accepted a professorship of history at Colgate, and later at Redlands, doing this teaching for 13 years. He was professor of Religion at Dartmouth before accepting the deanship at SC."
Joe Newmark writes feelingly of his West Coast visit. He and Selma called on the Englishes one evening and mentioned their proposed trip West. Almost automatically Jack got busy and told the Dinsmoors the Newmarks were coming. Result, they had a letter of welcome waiting in their Los Angeles hotel on arrival, and a phone call from ShortyHitchcock, who was leaving on one of his in- surance trips. They dined with Dan and JeanDinsmoor, and in their beautiful garden, over cocktails, reviewed old times and former friendships. Joe speculates on the Dartmouth spirit that permeates the Class of 1916 and helped make his trip so enjoyable. They visited Arizona; a law school classmate in Berkeley (who helped them cover 1,000 California miles); Seattle, Portland, Victoria, Vancouver, Lake Louise, Banff, all in leisurely fashion and with perfect weather. "It was all very interesting and exciting," says Joe. And endorsing my plea for attendance at future reunions, Joe adds: "Why wait? The absence from one's business for a week won't make any difference to the business but it will to the individual. And maybe the business would be better off if the boss gets away once in a while." Well said and well-reasoned.
Mathildc Huse, Mason's vice president in charge of general welfare and correspondence, wrote me in August that daughter Jo, who had a Fulbright scholarship at the London School of Economics, acquired an English husband in April, and they were due for a big reception in Burlington, after which they will go to Berkeley where Tony (why are all English boys, in fact and fiction, named Tony?) will start working for his doctorate. Jo, by the way, won her certificate from the school, "with distinction," the first one ever granted, and earned it doing two years' work in one. Mason Jr. '51, who received a Physics award from General Electric, hopes to start on that program when he has made up some credits, missed through illness. Betsey, the youngest, works on the G.E. assembly line in Burlington and likes it better than her former bank job in Boston. And Mathilde herself is the Huse in Wilcox & Huse, Inc., Realtors. Incidentally, at the Vermont Bankers meeting in June it was reported that Burlington is the fastest growing community in New England. Any arguments? Any '16ers who are in Burlington on September 6 should go to the Huse residence and join the welcoming party for Jo and Tony. I wish I could make it, for one thing, to get in a quartet with Mason, who is a bass of distinction, in addition to being a good banker.
If your family is as illustrious as the Huses of Burlington, have your wife write me about it and I will tell all. About time for ClintGreenwood to bring me up-to-date on the Greenwood brain trust.
Charlie Jones wrote me in favor of an Interim Reunion, in Hanover, "... any time. Marg and I will get there." Charlie sent me a clipping of the marriage of Ruby McFalls' son John Alan to Cynthia Harvey Smith of Boston, a graduate of Wellesley and postgraduate of Stanford. Young McFalls is an ensign in the Navy and will take his bride to Guam, later making their home in Seattle.
John Ames writes postcards from Tokyo, showing Japanese art and moaning of the Tokyo heat; Jack Little makes a nice comment on newsletters, relayed from Bill Mott. Also, I got my first letter from Gardner Morey and he promises to look me up next time he is in Washington. It's always a treat to have a '16er call me.
LOOKING AHEAD: '17's Reunion Chairman for next year, Donald Brooks, begins making plans with the help of Mrs. Brooks, co-chairman, and without much attention from Skippy.
Secretary, 8608 Broad Brook Drive, Bethesda 14, Md. Treasurer, 27 Concord St., Nashua, N. H.
