1932

Here we are stranded in Morrison, Colo., (population 439), two thousand miles from home, with Obie, our mobile office/camper, wanting a pair of functioning ignition wires and immersed in a Rocky Mountain blizzard that is predicted to carry on for two days - and copy's late again.

We could deal expeditiously with the copy matter simply by devoting the entire column to Dr. Cal and Pat Fisher, from whose comfortable and charming home we departed (ill-advisedly, it now appears) yesterday. It would all be good copy. It would tell, for example, of how last year Cal quit his private practice as one of Denver's leading surgeons to take on a daily duty in the emergency clinic of St. Luke's Hospital, a private hospital on the ghetto's edge, taking the daily flos of casualties as they come, where it is a part of Cal's satisfaction in his work that any person he finds in need of bed care is given bed care, without query as to ability to pay. It would include further this correspondent's not altogether modest opinion that Cal must be among the finest, more creative, and most versatile of U.S. sculptors and would carry the additional intelligence that he bakes the most palatable loaf of whole wheat bread, with raisins yet, that we have savored. It would hymn the many lovely things that Pat (who is Moorhead Tukey's sister) has woven on her looms, using yarns she spun herself and dyed with natural colors — and what colors! It would in form that Cal and Pat will journey to Hanover this spring to attend for the third time the Dartmouth commencement of one of their sons. And it would serve due warning to any of you for whom the Fishers' hospitality is yet in store that you may find yourself answering a 5:15 a.m. call in order to accompany Cal on the seven-mile bike ride on which he goes out to greet each Denver morning.

Here's Frank Marks writing from Hollywood's environs and making positive music: "For several years I have been helping Rudy Pacht '35 interview applicants for admission to Dartmouth. My conclusion is that the kids today have a wider range of interests, are more involved in the problems of our society, and are better educated and informed than we were at the age of 16, 17, or 18. Whether or not they'll be able to improve the state of the world remains to be seen, but I have high hopes."

Several comments re the Emerson quote of our postcard ["Education aims to make the man prevail over the circumstance"], including one from Charley Boak in Clearwater, Fla.: "The Emerson quote is fine. However, in the last half of the ninth, circumstances seem to be ahead, 10-2. I guess I just didn't get enough education."

In Del Haven, N.J., Wally Ziegenfuss postals: "For educators and related persons I would suggest that 'we forgive them for they know not what they do.' They are making a living and they hope for tenure. Such is life. The individual who wants to learn is not fighting the system. He does the same as Abe Lincoln, Henry Ford, etc. One learns by seeking knowledge. It is available to anyone with a desire to learn. The agitator and chronic complainer won't learn much until he shuts his mouth and opens his mind. Education is not everybody's dish."

And from Washington Howie Wile comments: "The present Administration is apparently listening more to the Philistines than to Emerson on the subject of education. The latest device is rescission. Congress is being asked to rescind some of its appropriations, which will relieve the White House from the burden of sequestering funds. This inspires a limerick:

"Says Nixon to Congress: Rescission Means just that we have your permission The funds to impound That we've already found

We won't spend spend on any condition The Wiles, who visited the Orient last fall ("most enjoyable but, unlike Europe, not conducive to regular repeats") have built a winterized cabin in southern Pennsylvania that they call their Gettysburg Address. Howie notes the doctor says he's sound as a dollar, but will recover.

When Bill Gerstley wrote in March, he had "just returned from a fascinating 'camera safari through Kenya and Tanzania. Thereafter a week of good living and good theater in London. Now back home and going to work on some of our classmates for the '73 Alumni Fund campaign Hope we make a good showing again this year.

This column seconds that, reiterating its special plea to the polarized not to take it out on the College via the Fund. Which brings us to Billpavis in Maplewcod, N.J.: "I am, like many of 0ur classmates (Larry Collins), most upset over resent Dartmouth policies and conduct. The battle over the Indian symbol is absolutely ridiculous in my opinion. It is not for the present generation t0 decide what happened in the past. Major problem is that they do not respect history, and do not want to listen to facts."

"Adjusting to life as an artificial kidney patient but still on the job as a middle school principal," writes Chuck Housel from Prosser, Wash. He may retire this year after 36 years in the school business. And from historic old Claremont George Bladworth, noting that the Roseland Ballroom of fond memory is long gone, reports: "I am with the New Hampshire Division of Employment Security, and married again to Nellie M. Bladworth, a delightful native sister of Vermont. Together we have 20 grandchildren!"

Al Geroald, in Philadelphia, asks who's this John Hanson who has his picture on the 6c postcard we sent out. If Al doesn't know, we wouldn't. We checked, and he's not a classmate. Al writes that having gained a reputation for being a man with nothing to do, "I run around making speeches for the Sierra Club on how to destroy the ecology. This gets me on so many mailing lists I spend the rest of my time reading all the mail it brings in."

The blizzard rages on, having its own Rocky Mountain high. Obie, roofed by 12 inches of new powder, stands with engine still unfixed. But inside Obie it's warm, snug - and not undecorative. We've just pinned up the charcoal nude that Dr. Cal, responding to our admiration of both artist and model, presented us. It's Saturday afternoon, and Figaro is into act three. There are books to read, and a half gallon of Jim Beam. If, as seems likely, we never do get out of here, there are far worse places for that to happen than Morrison, Colo.

Bill Lieson, former president of Valley Bank and Trust Company of Springfield, Mass., has been elevated to chairman of the board and chief executive officer. He has spent his 40-year business career with the bank and with its predecessor, Union Trust. Phi Beta Kappa at the College, Bill has been a member of the Alumni Council, president of the Dartmouth Club of Springfield, and class treasurer from 1957 to 1963. The director of multitudinous companies and institutions, he was chosen Outstanding Citizen of Greater Springfield in 1967.

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