The Story Behind a Book
ONE evening in the fall of 1964 Tom Falcon '65 and I were sitting around the outdoor fireplace at the Clubhouse. It must have been after one of the traditional Thursday night feeds. The sun had just set over the Norwich hills and a cool breeze was wafting up the river. Tom mused that, as a history major, he had a thesis to write but hadn't found a topic. Suddenly it came to him: why not do a history of the Ledyard Canoe Club? At first we both wondered whether there'd be enough material for a thesis. Nevertheless, Tom went directly to Professor Herb Hill with his proposal.
Professor Hill was delighted with the idea, and felt certain that there was enough "stuff" for a thesis - maybe more. The problem would be to dig it out from incomplete records and from the 800-plus graduates who, since 1920, have been associated with the Club.
Tom proceeded to dig. He ran a notice in the ALUMNI MAGAZINE, cornered John Rand '38 of the Dartmouth Outing Club, read over forty years' worth of Dartmouths, perused forty Aegises, collected photographs, unearthed old and forgotten Club records, and compiled well over fifteen hours of tape-recorded interviews.
In the spring Tom was forced to retreat to a secluded cabin on Lake Winnipesauke where he brought order to the mountainous pile of material he had collected. At long last the thesis was "done," or so he thought when he turned it in to Professor Hill. Little did he know that this was only the beginning. Professor . Hill read the thesis and returned it to Tom with an "A" and an accompanying note: "More people should know about this. It is worth publishing."
Then the fun began. Who to publish it? When? How? How many people would buy it? Should the College subsidize its publication?
With considerable help and advice from Dick Goddard and John Rand we moved slowly ahead. Everyone agreed that nothing less than a first-rate job would do. The first step was to present it to the Publications Committee of the College. The Committee read it and recommended that it be rewritten enough to bring it up to professional standard.
We then screened several candidates for the rewriting job. Finally, Dave Weber '65, a brilliant English scholar and former president of the Undergraduate Council who was doing graduate work at Columbia, was chosen to edit and rewrite the manuscript where necessary. Dave had never been directly involved in the Canoe Club; it was one of those things he wanted to do but had never found time for. Dave plunged into the job with enthuisasm and reworked the manuscript over a ten-month period. It was then submitted again to the Publications Committee which responded that "it is decidedly a publishable account, and one, moreover, that definitely should be published," but that the Committee was not in a position to take it on.
When this decision was handed down there were those in the Canoe Club who breathed a sigh of relief. Some people had strong feelings about the Canoe Club's being "subsidized" by anybody; it had survived for 45 or more years without support and that subsidization might set a bad precedent.
There was, however, no choice. We were to go independently and on our own or not at all. In spite of the Publications Committee's negative response, individual members like Ed Lathem proved very helpful to the project and offered welcome advice.
It was decided to ask Stinehour Press to publish the history simply because everyone was in unanimous praise of Stinehour's quality, and willingness to do small works of graphic art. Accordingly, the manscript was presented to Stinehour for consideration on December 27, 1966, with an eye toward early spring publication. Unfortunately, one unforeseen delay after another (including Mr. Stinehour's stepping on a rusty nail) caused us to delay publication by two months.
In the meantime, Tom Falcon thought a pre-publication flyer to all former Ledyardites would give us a clue as to how many might purchase the book. With the help of Tom's family, a flyer was designed, and mailed out with the Club newsletter, The River Rat, to almost 900 former Club members. The response was immediate and gratifying. Within five weeks 112 men had sent in their checks for $4.95. One fellow sent $10, and other interested alumni sent checks of varying amounts in "support of the cause."
Most accompanied their checks, with letters of reminiscence about the old days: "It was nice to hear that the Canoe Club is still functioning." ... "Great idea ... sure would like to canoe on the White River about now." ... "Here's my hard-earned pennies. My name had better be in it." ... "I shall be much interested to see your book, for I have heard nothing about the Club for about 45 years." ... "We all need a bit of nostalgia. Good luck with your project." ... "Thanks for thinking of the old-timers." ... "I shall appreciate it even though it is half as good as you and Herb Hill think it." ... "Here's my $4.95. It had better be good!" ... "We knew too little of the story in my day and all of us should be grateful to you for preserving memories which would otherwise be lost in a few more years."
$4.95? Yes. With a book measuring only five by nine and containing less than 100 pages nobody felt that we could honestly charge more. How many to order? This was the toughest question of all. If we ordered enough to break even (assuming we sold them all) we'd have to order at least 600 or more copies. That's a lot of canoeists. Somebody once figured that about one student in every 25 becomes a member of the Club at some point during his undergraduate days at Dartmouth. This could hardly be called a broad base. Yet, the Club history would not go out-of-date for another four or five years and, conceivably, as more people found out about it there would be a steady trickle of sales over a period of time. Ray Nash and I spent an afternoon turning this problem over in our minds. At length, after taking a deep pull on his pipe, Professor Nash responded, with a twinkle in his eye, "The number of copies to order, of course, is a 'business decision' which, happily, is not mine to make."
Nevertheless we deduced that 500 copies might be a reasonable compromise. The Club will go into the hole a little on it, but the project has been so worthwhile, and has brought together so many undergraduates and former Ledyardites that it has already reaped dividends beyond counting. If this modest little volume brings an evening of pleasure to our far-flung alumni the world over, if it inspires present and future undergraduates to "become involved," and lastly, if it encourages other student organizations to embark on a similar adventure, it will have accomplished no small thing and author Tom Falcon will have been well rewarded.
Cover of Canoe Club history
