1963

One of the depressing aspects of writing this column is sitting down to start it. On an average day of editorializing. I spend enough time as it is staring at a blank page, wondering what I can possibly say that would interest anybody. Usually some unexpected or unsuspecting subject stumbles into the day's news - Richard Nixon, for instance, or the proposed renaissance of the two dollar bill - and I'm saved. With this column, however, there is seldom any last minute's grace, no deluge of cards and letters or company press releases, nothing really to suggest that somewhere out there live more than 800 classmates.

I know where a few of you are, of course. Hardly a week goes by, it seems, without the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant about 20 miles from my front door having some slight accident, forcing it to shut down temporarily. The man whose job it is to assure the public and the media that indeed there's nothing to worry about is none other than Larry Keyes, who is based in Rutland with Yankee's parent power company. Larry is probably one of the most frequently quoted persons in the pages of the Keene Sentinel. If you want some solid interpretation of what goes on inside a defective fuel rod, Larry's your man.

Then there's Walt Zwick. He's in Brussels, Belgium, where the lights may already have gone out. Following tours with IBM and the Hughes Aircraft Co. (Is there really a Hughes Aircraft Co.?), Walt switched in 1968 to Cresap, McCormick and Paget Inc., an international management consulting firm. Walt has just been made a principal in the firm.

And finally, there is Mike Moriarty who lives and works somewhere in the world of entertainment. Many of you probably caught him as the "gentleman caller" with (Catherine Hepburn in "The Glass Menagerie," when that BBC-production was televised recently in the U.S. I thought he did an excellent job, but I don't pretend to be a critic. Someone who does says Mike also was "first-rate" in "A Summer Without Boys," a television drama which otherwise received a mixed review in the Boston Globe. Personally I think Mike deserves an Oscar nomination for his performance in "Bang the Drum Slowly." Would someone out there like to pretend seriously to the role of critic and offer a thorough critique? The space is here.

At the deadline comes news of Mike's latest "milestone," as one critic puts it. If you're anywhere near New York, try seeing him in "Find Your Way Home" at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. It opened recently and has earned a number of excellent reviews. The word brilliant appears frequently in various professional estimations of Mike's acting ability. Sample reactions: "Michael Moriarty emerges as a superstar." - Jim Lowe of WNEW; "Michael Moriarty's Broadway debut is the most imposing in a long time, revealing extraordinary talent." - "Ben Washer of HollywoodReporter; and Clive Barnes of The New YorkTimes tells you what it's all about: "No holds barred. The frankest discussion of homosexuality I have ever encountered in the theatre. Find Your Way Home is an honest and finely ... Michael Moriarty makes a great Broadway debut ... Certainly you could never put this play on TV. If you are not shocked - you will be impressed."

Well, the pages are no longer blank. Thanks to Larry, Walt, and Mike for dropping in so unexpectedly. And so long again to all of you mythical alumni. Surprise me with your existence. I like surprises.

Secretary, 11 Nelson St. Keene, N.H. 03431

Treasurer, 63 Blackburn Place Summit, N.J. 07901