Further Mention
Among 36 photographs is one of Red Blaik and his Dartmouth golf and fishing pals: Cotty Larmon, Ned French, Harry Ellinger, President Hopkins, and Billy Miller. A second shows Bob MacLeod breaking loose against Princeton in 1937. The Red Blaik Story (Arlington House) is dedicated to the men of West Point and Dartmouth "who paid the price."
You may read about President Hopkins, "a man of great warmth and charm, with an insatiable intellectual curiosity ... an inspiring college leader ... revered and held in the highest affection by all Dartmouth men." A football enthusiast, Hoppy was determined that Dartmouth's football teams should be held in greatest respect by opponents, undergraduates, and alumni and that consequently among the 126 candidates for the position of head coach Red Blaik should be chosen. From pages 122 to 174 Blaik tells about his Dartmouth life and associates: Beaver Bevan who as football trainer with no M.D. set Bob MacLeod's broken nose, Ma Smalley and her salty language, John and Joe Handrahan and their gargantuan appetites, Jack Williams and the Tanzi apple deal, the Yale jinx and how it was broken, Heavenly Gates in whose presence no Dartmouth football player dared curse, and the Cornell victory 7-3 on a fifth down and the miracle of that game won 3-0 by Dartmouth two days after the final whistle.
One hears so much these days about yoga, karate, health foods, and country living that one turns with some curiosity to what Donald Ethan Miller '68 has to say in Body Mind: The WholePerson Health Book about our times and the good life. Though here and there he may do a little discreet debunking, he likes to think himself broadminded enough to derive benefits from cults which some might consider a bit wacky. He urges his readers to keep their inquisitiveness at a flexible angle and to be broadminded about any system which will integrate body and mind seeking a more comfortable existence. Illustrated by Julian Miller '67, Don's brother, the book costing $4.50 is published by Prentice-Hall, Inc.
As the Professor Emeritus of Drama at Dartmouth College, Henry B. Williams wittily remarks, "It is a sentiment that many a theater might adopt." He was quoting a theater plate at Yamada-Cho, Japan, reading: "Please Gods!We may do something here that you will notlike. Kindly close one eye!" Henry tells of experiences far removed from tourist routes in an article, "Shinto-Sponsored Theater: The Farmers' Kabuki," appearing in the May issue of Educational Theater Journal.
The final Williams paragraph establishes this paradox: "Today the extant farmers' theaters are witnesses to a form of theater that began and remained close to the soil. They recall a people who persevered in providing that necessary activity which binds a community through shared theatrical experiences. The Tokugawa shotguns who forbade this creative urge paradoxically fostered the artistic ingenuity of the farmers to resist. The preservation of these theaters is a belated recognition of a vital and indigenous folk art."
Though John White '61 has been out of college only 13 years, he has covered a lot of space, physical and mental, and asked a lot of questions. Major ones appear in What IsMeditation?, a Doubleday Anchor Original of 254 pages costing $2.50, which he has edited. Is meditation the same as prayer? Is it daydreaming? Is it more than just being alone and quiet for a few minutes? What is Mu? Karma and sanskara? The book contains 19 essays with answers to these posers and many others, comments on how to meditate, and analyses of inherent difficulties, dangers, and pleasures. Written by 23 contributors, they constitute the first book on the subject to offer an evaluation by experienced meditators to readers eager to understand the varying approaches and values of Christian, Buddhist, and secular doctrines.
John White is Director of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, Associated Editor of Psychic, and a member of the editorial board of Journalof Altered States of Consciousness.
Sylvester M. Morey '18, co-editor of Respectfor Life: Report of a Conference at Harper'sFerry on the Traditional Upbringing ofAmerican Indian Children, points out in his foreword that in recent years the country has witnessed a radical change about teaching young Indians. Heretofore, very young, they were shipped out of reservations to government financed boarding schools, given white men's names, and taught the language and customs of white men. Children who had the perverse audacity to speak their own language or observe traditional tribe rituals were severely punished. The Myrin Institute for Adult Education in 1972 invited leading Indians from widely separated tribes to meet at Harper's Ferry to discuss traditional Indian upbringing and education of Indian children from birth through adolescence.
"Perhaps the Indian's greatest intuitive contribution to American life came through his reverence for nature," writes Morey, "his connection with animals and vegetable life, with the weather and the landscape of this country as a whole."
At the conference all discussions were held in traditional Indian style. Each person who spoke held forth as long as he had something to say with no interruptions and with close attention by all participants. The key word turned oút to be respect: for the child, mother, home, clan, all people; respect for animals and plants, weather, sun, moon, stars, Mother Earth; and, most important, respect for the great spiritual force that stands behind all and makes life possible and worth while.
Respect for Life, published by the Waldorf Press, Adelphi University, at $3.50 is richly illustrated and runs to 202 pages. Chairman of the Myrin Institute and a former New York advertising executive, Morey is well known in Hanover because he has served as a member of the visiting committee on the Native American Program at Dartmouth.
NOTE: beginning with this issue, the ALUMNI MAGAZINE no longer will carry a listing of alumni articles. This decision, taken reluctantly but of necessity, is due to competing space requirements and an awareness that the Magazine is not informed of many articles which deserve notice. In future issues, the Magazine will mention all books by alumni and faculty, reviewing those of general interest and merit. Reviews of films, plays, music, and art will will also appear from time to time.
