1940
This issue should arrive in your mailbox just in time for the final lap of the Alumni Fund wherein Art Ostrander should have lost some of his excess weight chasing all of us guys for the delinquent dollar. If you've been a procrastinator, how about diggin into your checkbook on behalf of our Alma Mater. This is the moment to take pen in hand and remedy the situation. June 30 is D day when the books are officially closed on the 1973 drive and we hope that Art - with your help - has once again made us the Green Derby winner!
The annual meeting notice of the General Electric Company contains a great business biography and picture of Dave Dance. It appears that since I last reported on Dave about a year and a half ago of his appointment as senior vice president he has added another title to his august position. I don't know when this took place, but the fact is that he's now vice chairman of the board of directors. Any and all complaints on GE appliances may be sent to his attention at their New York headquarters!
At a special election in Amherst, N.H., FrancesE. Whaland won the hotly contested selectman's seat which was being fought for by a total of five contenders. I'm delighted to say that against these other four Frank garnered approximately 40% of the total votes. Dr. Bill Martin checks in with a brief note and indicates that he might make it to Hanover for our informal fall reunion.
For the second month in a row it is with a great deal of regret that we must report the loss of another classmate. Don Schott died suddenly during the night of April 12 at his home in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. His obituary appears in that section at the back of this issue.
In my January column I referred to Roger Conant and his columnist friend Art Sullivan. For you New Englanders my apologies for placing Art's column in the Boston Globe instead of correctly in the Herald American. A letter from Roger talks about his major hobby, fishing, and by the time you read this he'll have completed a jaunt to Panama in quest of marlin and sailfish and then on to New Zealand for whatever it is they have in those waters downunder. In addition to his position as the V.P. of a prestigious British company in the hide, tanning, and meat packing business, Rog has a side-line as field tester for Berkley & Co. in Spirit Lake, lowa, on salmon and tuna tackle.
An article in The N.Y. Times by J. J. Stone, director of the Federation of American Scientists on the subject of the C.I.A. reads in part as follows: "One of the most famous of the C.I.A. political operations resulted in the infiltration of the National Student Association and about 250 other American domestic groups. The C.I.A. official who sold the whole program to Allen Dulles, and set it in motion, was Thomas W.Braden. On Jan. 6, in a syndicated column he now writes, Mr. Braden called for a C.I.A. housecleaning and noted: 'The times have changed and, in some ways, they now more nearly approximate the time when the C.I.A. was born. The need then was for intelligence only.' "
The daily papers have been full of talk of a potential mail deliverers strike this summer - and this morning there was a headline about congressional investigations 'cause local mail was taking five to eight days while mail from overseas is delivered far more rapidly. This was brought into sharp focus when I arrived at my office to find a letter post-marked Athens, Greece only three days earlier. It was from none other than JohnHannestad and his usual charm and wit come thru from the following extracts: "Considering devaluation and galloping inflation in Europe, living abroad is no longer so attractive as it once was, even tax-free, and I am seriously considering returning to the States. Fourteen years overseas is probably long enough, anyway.
"As for my doings in Greece, it seems odd, but I am running a series of projects in Germany, which keeps me bouncing back and forth between Athens and Frankfurt like a yo-yo. In fact, I have the time to write this letter because the meeting I was to attend today in Germany was postponed, and today is a Greek holiday, which, for a change, I am here to enjoy. My passport is full of in and out stamps, but at least I get to buy my booze cheaply at the airports.
"Now that I am here for the second time, I notice that Greece has changed, and not for the better. Athens is suffering in the usual fashion from a sudden influx of people and money, which has drastically lowered the value of both. Driving in the city is an utter horror, which even makes one wish for the good old days, when there were few cars - and no traffic lights or stop signs. Athens even has a serious smog problem. Modern Times have arrived. Outside of Athens the country still has its rugged beauty, tho even there the monstrous hotels springing up everywhere are doing their bit to ruin the landscape. My advice is to see Greece soon before the place is ruined by Progress.
"One bright spot in our present stay in Athens is that Professor Choukas, who retired from the Dartmouth faculty a few years ago, is active at Pierce College here, and we meet with him and his charming wife regularly. Pierce has become our contact with the academic world; I represented Dartmouth at the inauguration of the previous president, who unfortunately did not last long.
"Please let it be known that Greek hospitality is available to all Dartmouths. Just call Athens 8017556."
Now if Greece is on your agenda for this summer remember "The number to call in Athens is 801-7556." If you're elsewhere, remember '40s are scattered 'round the girdled earth and it mightn't hurt to try and find Pam Am's men - either Cece Moore in London or Syd Harrington flying a 747 'round the globe from N.Y.C. Hans-Joacheim Heinz in South Africa, Nick Turkevich in Amsterdam or Jim McElroy in Lausanne or John Wheaton in Geneva. If South America's on your agenda you might check Fred Eaton running Sears in Caracas, Venezuela, or Howie Marshall in Brazil. If you're a "stay-at-home" for the summer why not take one of those rainy days (there's bound to be one) and bring me as up-to-date on yourself as Hannestad just did. So, 'till October, have a healthy and happy time!
New College Trustee Dick Hill '41 and his family paused for the camera against abackground of Bermuda waters as they bicycled on the island: (l to r) Dick, Polly, Dick Jr.'76, Jody '74, and Steve.
Secretary, 200 5th Ave. New York, N.Y. 10010
Class Agent, 360 Rumstick Point Rd. Barrington, R.I. 02806
