1921

Some '21 men may applaud Ogden Nash, who wrote, "My garden will never make me famous, I'm a horticultural ignoramus, I can't tell a stringbean from a soybean, or even a girl bean from a boy bean." But others quote Francis Bacon, "God Almighty first planted a garden. And, indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures."

John and Margaret Herbert have fun growing miniature sunflowers, not the colossal farmyard variety making St. Bernard dogs cheerful. Margaret's boss in the Emerson Hospital, Concord, fancies herself as a racing driver and proves it by zooming at 90 miles an hour on expressways in her Porsche. John prefers his library and short stories. In an anthology, "Two and Twenty," authors represented were Benet, Hemingway, Anderson, Lawrence, Cather, O'Hara, and Faulkner, and each story was accompanied by a comprehensive- sketch of the author's career. A paragraph in the Faulkner sketch pleased John particularly. "Man will endure because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance. The poet's, the writer's, duty is to write about these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting up his heart, by reminding him of the courage, honor, hope, pride, compassion, pity, and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past."

Harry Chamberlaine notes that his weeds grow more viciously each year, but his phlox, peonies, and iris do him proud. Shrubs he has also, dwarf apple, cherry, and peach trees. Birds spare him the trouble of picking any of his luscious blueberries, and he could not find a single apple to bite into. If such diet does not make them sing more mellifluously next year, Harry will become less philo-ornithological. In short, he will give birds a hard time.

Al Dunn waters his gardens with a buried system of sprays with only three valves to turn. With an expert Japanese gardener, Al proudly harvests plums, pears, apples, and lemons. Marghie is making bonzai pines and ceramic pots for them. Al's other hobbies are genealogy and carving chess sets.

Although Marshall Exnicios is eager to dine at a new and highly praised London restaurant, Le Gavroche, his gardens may restrict him to this country. Like the French, he believes that money spent on food and wine is well spent. In France he notices that even the working-classes choose expensive restaurants and order the best. But it may be some time before Marshall goes BOACing, for at his estate, Lucketts, in Leesburg, Va., after two years with busy workmen, there is still much to be done on gardens, grounds, and meadows, which need fencing.

Allen and Alice Brailey refresh themselves by digging in the earth and experimenting with new and rare flowers and trees. In a telegram-and-telephone era, Allen, who writes eloquent letters, recalls that one of his World War II duties on Guam was to censor outgoing mail. Some well educated boys were pitifully inarticulate, but others, without much schooling, taciturn and apparently unemotional, wrote so eloquently to parents, wives, and sweethearts that they could make a stranger weep.

At Little Compton, R. I., from May to October, Hoy and Helen Schulting chase rabbits out of their garden, but there is time left over for fishing, golf, and duplicate bridge. In these bitter and disillusioning days Hoy can write, "All in all, God has been good to me in so many ways that I do not know how to thank him. Somehow I feel He understands my feeble efforts."

In Japan Bob Wilson recently climbed Mt. Fugi, 12,000 feet almost straight up. "It was almost too much for my 70-year-old heart, lungs, hips, legs, and stomach, and I needed two days to recuperate."

Six years ago Walt Lundegren had his heart attack and quit smoking. No regrets. His chief interests are his family and the board of investments at the Marblehead Savings Bank. His daughter Betty is executive secretary of the Simmons College. Alumnae Fund and his son-in-law, Ottar Thorgilsson, the Icelander, is training in the International Division of the First National Bank, Boston, to which he was called from Liberty Mutual where Walt worked for 29 years.

Ken Thomas's son, Ken '56, has asked for a transfer from Libya to Vietnam where he will be more valuable. As surgeon he will undoubtedly save many lives. Completing his duty in July he will specialize for two years in chest surgery in Richmond, Va.

Nancy Kendall, Bob's widow, is sailing Nov. 19 from San Francisco on a fourmonths' tour by ship around the world.

Abe Weld to honor Walter Holt has presented Baker Library with "The Crisis of the Renaissance, 1520-1600," by Andre Chastel, Professor at the Sorbonne, and with a second volume, "The Principles of Harmony in Contrast to Colors and Their Applications to the Arts," by M. E. Chevreul. With many beautiful plates in full color, the Chastel book deals with a period full of cultural and intellectual tensions and conflicts, today more exciting and complex, more "Shakespearean than 50 years ago. A monumental masterpiece by the 19th century scientist with a prodigious influence on Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism, the Chevreul book is lavishly illustrated with 28 color plates, photographs of Gobelin tapestries, eight full-page reproductions of Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painting, numerous black-and-white plates, and rare photographs.

Furb Haight to honor Roy Burrill has presented Baker with "The Art of Ancient Greece and Rome from the Rise of Greece to the Fall of Rome." It contains the latest thinking and discoveries in that perennially fascinating field and 385 illustrations, 32 in full color. The author, Giovanni Becatti, is Professor of Archaeology at the University of Rome.

Ing Baker to honor Owen C. Frost has given Baker "The lournal of Richard Henry Dana Jr." Published in three volumes by the Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, it contains 37 illustrations of contemporary personages and scenes, including Daniel Webster and George Ticknor.

A second donor to honor Owen C. Frost is Rynie Rothschild with "Heralds of England." Those interested in heraldic occasions from the 15th century to the present will find this volume notably illustrated with 13 plates in color and 31 in black and white.

The Valley News, widely read in the Hanover area, has printed a letter from Corey Ford. "Thank you for your editorials urging stricter gun-control laws. As a result of reading them, I have sent on my check for membership in the American Rifle Association to lend them moral support in the fight against such ignorance as yours."

Kaddy and Diane Kadison have got more than they bargained for in their search for excitement and change in Europe. They have become willy-nilly experts in revolutions. Last year, Greece; this year, Paris. They are heading for Egypt next and wonder whether Nasser will have the grace to postpone a declaration of war until after their departure.

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